A Democratic congressional candidate has pulled her ads from a Sinclair-owned station, called on her party colleagues to do the same, and compared the private firm’s actions to those of totalitarian regimes.
Amy McGrath, the front-runner in the Democratic primary for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, said in a statement Monday that she’s ordered her campaign to pull ads from WKDY-TV in Louisville, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
She was reacting to a growing social-media campaign against Sinclair, based on a Deadspin video showing anchormen in multiple cities reading the same script, warning about the threat of “Fake News.”
That is totalitarianism, said Ms. McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel.
She said her campaign donors “should have the expectation that their financial support will never be used to enrich these chilling right-wing efforts to stifle the critical role of local journalism.”
Ms. McGrath then called for a national boycott of Sinclair.
“I call on all Democratic candidates across the country to take a firm stand against this frightening development to our Democracy and refuse to buy advertising time on all Sinclair-owned television stations,” she said in Monday’s statement.
By doing so, she claimed, “we can stand up to this threat to our independent media and send a firm message that these actions will not be tolerated.”
According to Ballotpedia, the 6th District of Kentucky is a prime Democratic pick-up target. Ms. McGrath has raised more than $1.1 million for the race, about twice what the other two major Democrats in the field have raised, combined.
The District is currently represented by Republican Andy Barr.
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