Richard Painter Ad Calls Trump Administration 'Dumpster Fire'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- President Donald Trump is heading for Minnesota this week.
The President is holding a campaign-style rally in Duluth on Wednesday night.
And one Democratic U.S. Senate candidate is welcoming the President by comparing the Trump administration to a "dumpster fire."
Demand for tickets to see the President is so high, the event had to be moved to a bigger venue. It's energizing Democrats, too.
U.S. Senate candidate Richard Painter is timing a tough new TV ad to the President's visit.
Painter's first campaign ad places him in front of a literal dumpster fire to describe what he says is happening in Washington.
"Some people see a dumpster fire, and do nothing but watch the spectacle. Some are too scared to face the danger," Painter said.
Painter's "dumpster fire" is the centerpiece of his U.S. Senate campaign. An unrelenting attack on President Trump and the Trump administration.
"We're in serious trouble if we don't fix the serious corruption in Washington, and the abuse of power," Painter said.
The University of Minnesota law professor and one-time Republican ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush is running as a Democrat. Telling a state convention in June he supports immediate Congressional hearings into obstruction of justice by the President.
"And if necessary, impeach and remove from office, every single one of them," Painter said.
Painter is running against Democratic Senator Tina Smith, who was appointed to replace Al Franken, who resigned. He says she's out of step with Minnesota, and not tough enough on Trump.
"She has disagreed with President Trump on specific issues, but that's very different than taking on this president for his obstruction of justice and his abuse of power," Painter said.
Painter says he's running as a Democrat because moderate Republicans like him have been run out of the party. He says Minnesota could send a signal to the rest of the country.
"There is an inferno raging in Washington, not here in the land of 10,000 lakes? We know how to put out a fire," Painter said.
Painter's new ad is running in Duluth to coincide with the President's visit, then statewide. He says he wants a series of public debates with Smith before the Democratic US Senate primary in August.
