An Independent Senate candidate in Nebraska is gaining momentum by attacking Republicans with pun-loaded insults as President Donald Trump's cheap foreign beef sours rural voters on the GOP.
The campaign and fallout around it were detailed in a Saturday article by Politico, which found that Trump's plan to lower beef prices has enraged ranchers who usually vote Republican.
Senate candidate Dan Osborn is challenging Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) with an ad this week that his campaign will spend at least six figures airing, according to Politico.
"This Congress, it's too chicken to stand up to the corporations who bought them off," Osborn says in the ad.
He also pledges to "cut the pork" and "take on the coastal shrimps in both parties," casting himself as an outsider unwilling to answer to Washington. Osborn told Politico that he is "pretty p---ed off" about how farmers keep getting treated.
Trump's plan would strip tariffs from a large volume of imported beef sold well below market price, according to Politico. Republicans across farm states have condemned the move, warning it will hollow out a domestic industry already under strain, Politico noted.
Ricketts fired back at his challenger in a statement and dismissed the ad as scripted messaging.
"Ranchers know the difference between a senator who delivers and a candidate reading a script," Ricketts said, per Politico.
Other Republicans have broken with the president as well. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) called Trump's beef plan a "bad idea," while Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said the focus should be on growing the domestic cattle herd, Politico reported.
Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, admitted producers in his home state are deeply frustrated.
"I think they understand what's going on," Boozman said, per Politico. "They're just not pleased with it."
Ranchers themselves argue the plan misses the real problem. Ben Menges, an Arizona cattle rancher, told Politico that Trump should target fuel costs instead.
"The best way that President Trump can do that is by lowering the cost of fuel, not by importing a bunch of beef," Menges said.
