Jim Gray’s first attack ad shows GOP leaders panning Rand Paul’s foreign policy

Jim Gray, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, launched his first television attack ad Tuesday.

The ad opens with Republican nominee Donald Trump calling Rand Paul a “disaster on military,” before going on to show U.S. Senator John McCain, R-Arizona; Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly; and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie criticizing Paul over his foreign policy and national security.

A spokeswoman for Paul responded by calling the ad desperate.

“Nothing says desperate, typical politician more than using debunked claims to mislead Kentuckians who already know Dr. Rand Paul stands for a strong national defense and actually proposed an increase in defense spending,” said spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper.

The Gray campaign said it is spending $325,000 to air the ad statewide on broadcast and cable television stations.

The ad is the first negative commercial from either campaign, though political action committees supporting Paul have run negative ads connecting Gray with Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her stance on coal.

A PAC supporting Gray, Kentucky Moving Forward, also unveiled an ad Tuesday criticizing Paul as a “typical politician.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Jim Gray’s first attack ad shows GOP leaders panning Rand Paul’s foreign policy."