A “fact check” by the Fresno Bee — hardly a conservative outlet — noted Wednesday that an ad by incumbent Democrat Jim Costa against Republican challenger Elizabeth Heng quoted her out of context in a misleading way.
The ad uses footage of Heng’s meeting with the Bee‘s editorial board to portray her as an uncritical supporter of President Donald Trump, leaving out the fact that she said she would support him on some issues and criticize him where warranted. Costa’s ad specifically suggests Heng supports Trump’s immigration policy, which is unpopular among some constituents in the Central Valley district — especially among Latino voters, and some farmers.
As the Bee reported:
In the meeting, Bee editor Joseph Kieta asked Heng if she supports the president and would vote for him today. She said she would, then praised Trump’s economic policies, which she said brought unemployment to an all-time low.
In her answer, Heng does not mention anything about immigration, which was covered earlier in the meeting.
The advertisement places Heng’s statement, “I support the president,” after claims that Trump “separated immigrant children from their moms and dads,” “wants a border wall that would cost billions without securing our border” and “rolled back protections for Dreamers.”
…
However, Heng’s words after the initial support statement directly contradict the final claim made in Costa’s advertisement.
“But I’m my own woman,” Heng said. “I’ll vote with (Trump) when I do, and I won’t when I won’t. If there are policies out there – I’m not like a rubber stamp for Trump.”
The Bee also noted that Heng had criticized the separation of illegal alien parents from children at the border.
Heng has run a strong campaign, with polls showing the race as fairly competitive. She recently hit Costa with an ad of her own, portraying him walking in Nancy Pelosi’s shoes.
Hong gained national attention early in the race when Facebook inexplicably censored an ad documenting her family’s survival in Cambodia.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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