The billboard’s target list is made up of “people who are more enthusiastic about lying to their constituents about the election theft,” said Sarah Longwell, executive director of the Republican Accountability Project. “The objective is not to allow these officers to escape the memory of the fact that they pushed that lie, which incited the attack on the Capitol.”
“It took many Republican party players to convince the vast majority of their voters that the election was fraudulent,” added Longwell. “We are here to be an institutional memory of what happened and who said what.”
The billboards will be placed in the districts of each member of the House, as well as in several cities in Texas and Missouri targeting Cruz and Hawley. Thursday’s launch is the first phase of the $ 1 million campaign, with additional billboards set to be launched soon after. Cruz and Hawley cannot be re-elected until 2024.
The other nine Republicans targeted in the campaign are: Reps. Devin Nunes (California), Elise Stefanik (NY), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Louie Gohmert (Texas.), Madison Cawthorne (NC), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia.), Matt Gaetz (Florida), Mo Brooks (Ala. ) And Dan Bishop (NC)
“There is still this whole segment of the population that believes the election was illegitimate,” said Olivia Troye, former national security adviser to Mike Pence, who is now director of the project. “And they will continue to believe this until these people are held accountable or resign and it is recognized that this was a lie.”
A video released on Thursday night by the Republican Accountability Project compiles examples from Cruz, Hawley, Jordan, McCarthy and other Republicans claiming without evidence that the 2020 election was tainted. The group will air it as an advertisement during the Fox and Friends and Sean Hannity show throughout the next week in each member’s constituency and in the states of Cruz and Hawley.
Neither Longwell nor Troye is optimistic that 17 Republicans will join Democrats to condemn Trump in the Senate impeachment trial. But both said voters and lawmakers need to be reminded of what happened on January 6.
Longwell expressed frustration with the Republicans’ calls for Democrats to abandon the trail in the name of “unity”.
“They have the mantra to move on, but we’re not going to let them move on,” said Longwell. “Accountability is a prerequisite for the unit.”