Jefferson County

Democratic Committee

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

July 11,2020

On Friday, the Stefanik campaign accused me of making an offensive insult toward Elise Stefanik in a Jefferson County
Democratic Committee Facebook post. The campaign suggested that a comment I made on bipartisanship was
insulting. One would expect this campaign would not be so blatant as to take a quote so obviously out of context to
fit their narrative, but that is not case.

My Facebook post concerned Stefanik's lack of response to the Russian bounty for American soldiers issue, and her
criticism of the NYS response to Covid-19. My Facebook post stated, "True bipartisanship shows during a crisis of this
magnitude. Token bipartisanship might look good, but it is like, as Sarah Palin put it, 'putting lipstick on a pig.' " Not
only did the Stefanik campaign conveniently omit my entire first sentence, but they conflated this to mean that I
called Stefanik a "pig" to fit their narrative. Anyone reading the entire quote will see that it was a comparison of
bipartisanship and not at all directed at Ms. Stefanik. Yes, my recollection of the quote was incorrect. It was actually
Obama's quote. That's my mistake. Misrepresenting the quote to fit their own narrative and attempting to sully a
person for political purposes is the campaign's mistake. The actions of the Stefanik Campaign were intentional and
malicious.

Why is it that other than posting on Newzjunky, no other media outlet in the NY21 would even touch the issue. One
news outlet called me and later admitted that Stefanik's press release was wrong and therefore they would not
pursue the story. If her press release was accurate, why did the campaign take down their Facebook post about this
issue soon after posting it?

The Stefanik campaign has constantly shown it will pursue any narrative -- whether accurate or not -- that they feel
advances their campaign. As a full Trump supporter, the Stefanik campaign adheres to the Trump philosophy of "just
say it, and they will believe you." It doesn't have to be true. Just like "Taxin' Tedra," which has been debunked since
the last campaign, and now this attack on my reputation. The facts be damned, even if it is not true, the Stefanik
campaign will put it out there and assume people will just believe it.

To return to the original point of my Facebook post, the Stefanik Campaign tried to distract from the real issues of a
lack of condemnation of Russian bounties on American soldiers, and her lack of cooperation and coordination with
the NYS Covid-19 response. Thousands of soldiers from Fort Drum are interested to hear a condemnation from
Stefanik. Why wasn't Stefanik going to NYS officials and asking "what can I do to help NY21 respond to this
pandemic"? Coordinated, efficient response is needed to combat this virus.

NY21 deserves better, VOTE TEDRA

Jon Hall
Chairman - Jefferson County Democratic Committee

www.Jeffersondems.org JeffersonDemsNY@gmail.com