DeMint calls attack by Senate candidate in Utah 'disgraceful lie'
RenewAmerica staff
As the increasingly bitter U.S. Senate race in Utah between Tea Party candidates Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater geared up for Tuesday's GOP primary, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S. Carolina) issued a strongly-worded rebuke of Bridgewater for mailing out a "disgraceful lie" about DeMint and the state of South Carolina.
The last-minute mailer suggested Lee and DeMint planned to dump 4,000 tons of South Carolina's nuclear waste in Utah if Lee becomes Utah's next senator, replacing Sen. Bob Bennett, who was rejected by delegates at the Republican state convention May 8.
"Can we gamble Utah's future with Mike Lee and Jim DeMint?" the mailer asked recipients.
The mailer also criticized Lee for being endorsed by DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund, which has backed Lee with funding and an Internet presence.
DeMint, considered one of the most conservative members of the Senate, responded:
"Mr. Bridgewater's malicious and dishonest attacks on me and the state of South Carolina only confirm he would fit in all too well with the Washington establishment" (emphasis in the original).
DeMint added, "As you know, the Senate Conservatives Fund focuses on promoting principled conservative candidates, not attacking their Republican opponents. But if Mr. Bridgewater is going to spread lies about us and our support for Mike Lee, we're going to correct the record."
The senator continued:
"This race is still close because of attacks like these and because Mr. Bridgewater is self-funding his campaign with money made from businesses that are directly subsidized by government programs."
"He's been telling voters that he's a businessman but as someone who ran a small business for over twenty years, I can tell you that gaming government programs does not make you a businessman. It makes you a lobbyist," DeMint said.
June 22, 2010
As the increasingly bitter U.S. Senate race in Utah between Tea Party candidates Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater geared up for Tuesday's GOP primary, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S. Carolina) issued a strongly-worded rebuke of Bridgewater for mailing out a "disgraceful lie" about DeMint and the state of South Carolina.The last-minute mailer suggested Lee and DeMint planned to dump 4,000 tons of South Carolina's nuclear waste in Utah if Lee becomes Utah's next senator, replacing Sen. Bob Bennett, who was rejected by delegates at the Republican state convention May 8.
"Can we gamble Utah's future with Mike Lee and Jim DeMint?" the mailer asked recipients.
The mailer also criticized Lee for being endorsed by DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund, which has backed Lee with funding and an Internet presence.
DeMint, considered one of the most conservative members of the Senate, responded:
"Mr. Bridgewater's malicious and dishonest attacks on me and the state of South Carolina only confirm he would fit in all too well with the Washington establishment" (emphasis in the original).
DeMint added, "As you know, the Senate Conservatives Fund focuses on promoting principled conservative candidates, not attacking their Republican opponents. But if Mr. Bridgewater is going to spread lies about us and our support for Mike Lee, we're going to correct the record."
The senator continued:
"This race is still close because of attacks like these and because Mr. Bridgewater is self-funding his campaign with money made from businesses that are directly subsidized by government programs."
"He's been telling voters that he's a businessman but as someone who ran a small business for over twenty years, I can tell you that gaming government programs does not make you a businessman. It makes you a lobbyist," DeMint said.