Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, has responded to her opponent, Republican businessman Eric Hovde, following his comparison of her comments on former President Trump voters to those of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
A new digital ad from Baldwin's campaign highlights Hovde's own remarks from a 2016 interview where he used the term 'deplorable' to describe the level of civic knowledge among average Americans. Hovde expressed concern over the lack of basic knowledge about the country's founding year, the vice president, and the number of senators.
In his remarks, Hovde also made comments about gender stereotypes, suggesting that females focus too much on Hollywood while males are overly engrossed in sports, including fantasy sports.
The ad from Baldwin's campaign questions Hovde's past statements, particularly his views on sports and knowledge levels, and implies that he may be out of touch with Wisconsin due to spending too much time in California.
Baldwin's ad is part of a multi-million dollar advertising campaign as the election approaches. This response comes after Hovde's campaign aired a television spot juxtaposing Baldwin's comments on Trump voters with Clinton's 'basket of deplorables' remark from 2016.
Senator Baldwin has made efforts to reach out to Republicans and Trump supporters during her current campaign, even featuring the former president in some of her ads. Wisconsin is a crucial battleground state in the presidential election and is considered a toss-up.
Recent polling data from Quinnipiac University shows Baldwin leading Hovde by just one point, with 49% to 48% among likely voters in Wisconsin. The poll, conducted between October 18 and 21, surveyed 1,108 individuals with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points.
