Rep. Doug Collins (R) has launched an attack ad against incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) in the Georgia Senate race by going after her past financial support for Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
In a 30-second ad posted on Twitter, Collins’s campaign hits Loeffler for donating “nearly $1 million” to Romney when he was a presidential candidate while contributing “NOTHING” to President Trump’s campaign in 2016.
“Loeffler’s big money talks: but it was silent for Donald Trump,” Collins wrote in a tweet accompanying the video.
The ad echoed an attack Collins launched earlier this week going after Loeffler’s past financial contributions.
Matt Whitlock, a senior adviser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), also pushed back on Collins’s ad, calling it “ridiculous.” He posted screenshots of past Facebook posts showing Collins supporting Romney’s 2012 presidential bid and saying he would vote for him.
A spokesman for Collins’s campaign responded to Whitlock’s comments by saying Loeffler “only admonished Romney when her support of him became a political liability.”
The NRSC has said it will support Loeffler in the special election this year to fill the remainder of Isakson’s term, which ends in 2022. The Senate GOP campaign arm ripped Collins for entering the Senate race, accusing him of making it more difficult for Republicans to win across Georgia.
Loeffler has recently sought some distance from Romney, who was critical of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine during the House impeachment probe and who became the only GOP senator to break with the party this week to vote to convict Trump of abuse of power.
In late January, after Romney called for more witnesses and documents for the Senate impeachment trial, Loeffler spoke out on Twitter, accusing her GOP colleague of trying to “appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander @realDonaldTrump.”
“It’s time to move on,” added Loeffler, who voted with other Republicans this week to acquit Trump on both articles of impeachment.
On Friday, the GOP senator further touted the vote to acquit Trump, declaring, “We’re going to win in November and reelect @realDonaldTrump!”
Updated: 5:35 p.m.