House Democrat Tries to Tie His Democratic Opponent to MAGA in Wild Campaign Ads: He Gave ‘Credibility to QAnon’

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) is targeting the “QAnon-MAGA support” behind a midterm challenger in a series of ads, but that challenger happens to be a progressive Democrat.

David Kim supports progressive causes like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, but he’s being tied to right-wing extremism in an increasingly bitter race. Kim responded to a New York Times report on the Gomez ad buys, highlighting a quote from a Gomez strategist admitting they do not believe Kim is part of QAnon.

“Interestingly enough, his own strategist is quoted, ‘It is correct to say we don’t think he’s QAnon,’” Kim tweeted.

Our campaign was featured in @nytimes today and it focused on the polarizing attacks my opponent has been using against me.
Interestingly enough, his own strategist is quoted, “It is correct to say we don’t think he’s QAnon”. pic.twitter.com/nggRZCG4kn

— David Kim For Congress (CA34)????(he/him) (@DavidKimForCA) October 31, 2022

From the New York Times:

The mailers and online ads vividly paint David Kim as a right-wing extremist, accusing him of running for a House seat in California “with QAnon-MAGA support” from “QAnon Republicans.”

But Mr. Kim is not a Republican. He’s a progressive Democrat who supports “Medicare for all” and a Green New Deal. And the attacks come from a fellow progressive Democrat, Representative Jimmy Gomez, who is fighting to keep his seat in Congress.

Gomez previously ran against and easily defeated Kim in 2020, but now he’s paying far more attention to the progressive challenger. A website launched by his campaign asks, “who is the real David Kim?” The website accuses him of having a “MAGA-QAnon endorsement.” It also accuses Kim of previously registering as a Republican.

Mailers from the campaign have also shown Kim in side by side photos with January 6 Capitol rioters and former President Donald Trump, the Times noted.

The “endorsement” from 2020 that Kim is allegedly hiding comes from Joanne Wright, a Republican, who pushed QAnon conspiracy theories, sporting a “Q” on her Twitter page before she was booted from the platform.

“It is correct to say we don’t think he’s QAnon,” Gomez campaign consultant Steven Barkan claimed. “But he ran with QAnon support. It is serious when people like Kim give credibility to QAnon.”

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