This Notorious Never Trump Senate Candidate Sued TV Stations To Block Attack Ads

Evan McMullin, the Democrat-endorsed independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah, who would go on to lose his election for U.S. Senate in Utah. and sued several TV stations and the conservative group Club for Growth to stop voters from seeing ads in which he calls Republicans “racist,” “bigots,” “un-American” and “rotten to the core.”

McMullin seeked to block stations from airing an ad from the Club for Growth replaying footage of McMullin, appearing on CNN, saying “the Republican base is racist” and calling Republicans “bigots.”

“Evan McMullin thinks it’s the job of courts to cover-up his past personal attacks on conservatives, and he doesn’t even think he’s supposed to answer for the frivolous and absurd accusations against Club for Growth Action as well as Utah television stations,” said Club for Growth Action President David McIntosh. “Utah needs a principled and thoughtful politician like Mike Lee in this Senate seat, not a performance artist.”

The ad also quotes McMullin, appearing on MSNBC, calling Republican Party “rotten to the core,” and a June 28, 2020 Twitter post in which McMullin calls “the Republican Party” “un-American.”

McMullin, who became a darling of liberals for his failed 2016 “Never Trump” independent presidential bid, claims the TV ads are illegal and should be taken off the air because they could have hurt his campaign.

 “The lawsuit filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City contends that the conservative super PAC distorts old footage and audio to make it sound like McMullin accused all Republicans of being racists and bigots,” Deseret News reports.

The ad never claimed McMullin said “all.”  It merely quoted his own words.

Despite the fact he is suing to block the ads, Club for Growth reports McMullin refuses to attend depositions where he could be asked questions.

McMullin seeked to not only block the ads, but win a cash award.  He still owes vendors and staffers $664,000 from his failed 2016 campaign, in which he got 0.54% of the vote.

Michael Brigham

Michael Brigham has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His areas of expertise include foreign affairs, government, and politics, but regardless of the subject matter, he has a nose and an insatiable appetite for news. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, watching a mix of comedies and true crime documentaries, and spending time away from the swamp hiking in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.