A "dark money" group backing Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign.
America One Policies, a a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, is using Cotton's signature focus on China policy to target vulnerable congressional Democrats in areas that President Donald Trump won in 2016, reported The Daily Beast.
“The Chinese Communist Party lied about the coronavirus, misleading the world, spreading sickness around the globe, killing thousands, costing trillions,” claims one digital ad run by the group on Facebook and Google.
The ads show Joe Biden and Barack Obama beside Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and the group urges viewers to "join our effort to make China pay.”
All the House lawmakers and most of the senators targeted America One Policies are in districts won by Trump four years ago, and Cotton may be able to leverage the group's ad buys to call in favors from their Republican challengers should they win in November.
Cotton's own campaign has purchased digital ads in Minnesota, and his PAC placed an anti-Biden ad on The New York Times website.
America One Policies was set up by Cotton allies, and its president Jonny Hiler served as Cotton’s legislative director before joining Vice President Mike Pence's office after the election, and he's currently at the pro-Trump lobbying firm Miller Strategies.
The group's board Little Rock real-estate investor Ted Dickey, who helps run the trust Cotton and his wife used to buy their home in Arkansas.
