House GOP campaign arm hits vulnerable Democrats on inflation in July 4 ad campaign

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Wednesday rolled out a July 4 digital media campaign targeting vulnerable House Democrats on the issue of inflation. 

The 15-second spots from the House GOP’s campaign arm invoke the rising costs of “burgers, buns, propane and gas” ahead of the July 4 holiday. 

“Americans are being forced to pay more to celebrate the Fourth of July this year because Democrats’ wasteful spending has caused inflation to skyrocket,” NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said in a statement. 

The blitz targets 11 vulnerable Democrats: Reps. Elaine Luria (Va.), Cindy Axne (Iowa), Tom O’Halleran (Ariz.), Josh Harder (Calif.), Ed Perlmutter (Colo.), Carolyn Bourdeaux (Ga.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.) and Vicente Gonzalez (Texas). 

The campaign comes as Republicans increasingly use inflation to attack the Biden administration and Democrats, blaming the $1.9 trillion stimulus that Democrats pushed through Congress.

“We need to tie inflation to the Biden economic agenda and explain to voters how inflation is Democrats’ hidden tax on the Middle Class,” Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), who chairs the Republican Study Committee, wrote in a memo.

Democrats, on the other hand, have highlighted recent economic growth, pointing to the passage of the American Rescue Plan. 

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Christ Taylor hit back at the NRCC ad campaign in a statement to The Hill, citing Democratic support for the American Rescue Plan. 

“If the NRCC wants to set money on fire to distract Americans from the extremism within their party or their votes against the American Rescue Plan, which is rebooting the economy, they could have bought some fireworks,” Taylor said. 

Updated 9:10 p.m.