Today, investigative journalist and Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Georgia Jon Ossoff launched a new ad for statewide African-American radio that informs voters of Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.)’s repeated lies downplaying the risks and human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a disproportionate impact on Georgia’s Black community. It is part of the campaign’s six-figure statewide African-American radio advertising buy.
The ad, titled “Hardest,” begins by informing Georgians that both Perdue and President Trump were briefed repeatedly on the dangers of COVID-19 in the early months of this pandemic — yet they both lied repeatedly to the public about the true scope of the threat.
According to the ad, Perdue told Georgians the risk remained “low,” even after experts had warned it was dire. In May, as the death toll spiked, Perdue continued to downplay the risks, insisting to Georgians that we wouldn’t “have a significant uptick” despite clear indications that community spread was significant and at risk of accelerating.
The ad continues, “And in July, while Georgia’s Black community was hit the hardest, millions had lost jobs, and families were grieving, David Perdue said … ‘things in Georgia right now are going as well as they could be expected.’”
The ad ends with a message: “Donald Trump and David Perdue lied and left us unprepared. This election, hold them accountable.”
Here is the audio ad, uploaded to Jon Ossoff’s YouTube channel.
