Republican Senator runs bizarre, dark new ad featuring Attila the Hun joking about killing “liberal scribes”

It’s not a controversial statement to say that under Trump, the Republican Party has completely lost its mind. Just take a look at the latest campaign ad for Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler, who made headlines earlier this year for illegally profiteering off the coronavirus crisis.

In the ad, Loeffler claimed that she was more conservative than 5th-century tribal warlord Attila the Hun, who did not have strong opinions on gun control, abortion, or trickle-down economics. Bizarrely — and disturbingly — the ad does a Family Guy-style cutaway that shows “Attila” ordering the elimination of “liberal scribes,” which is almost certainly a joke about killing journalists and the media.

Now here's an ad for you: Sen. Kelly Loeffler's new spot is all about how she's "more conservative than Attila the Hun," and includes an actor portraying a grunting Attila who delivers orders to, among other things, "eliminate the liberal scribes." pic.twitter.com/080nIJGwng

— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) September 21, 2020

Course, it wouldn’t be a Republican joke if they didn’t get some basic facts wrong. Attila the Hun never attacked China, instead ravaging central Europe, Italy, and the Byzantine Empire; the lazy ad makers must have gotten him mixed up with Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan, who did conquer China.

Loeffler was appointed to her seat in November 2019 following the resignation of Sen. Johnny Isakson and is currently running in a special election to finish out his term. Under Georgia election law, special elections feature an open primary with the top two candidates going to a runoff if nobody gets over 50%.

New polling shows Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock clawing his way into striking distance — and this ad could come back to bite Loeffler in a big way if she and Warnock go to a runoff.

GEORGIA Senate polling — from Warnock campaign (D):

Loeffler 29, Warnock 25, Collins 19, Lieberman 11, Tarver 5.

Biden LEADS Trump, 49-46% https://t.co/tj5sb8lvs3

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) September 21, 2020

Loeffler has voted with Trump 100% of the time and is MAGA to the core. It’s extremely disturbing to see how casual the right-wing has become with its barely disguised threats of violence against our free press — but also to remember that this absurd nonsense just goes to show how desperate she is. If a Republican is doing this poorly in the deep-red state of Georgia, then something is definitely changing across America’s electoral landscape.

https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/1308115223379718144

ANYWAY trying to win primaries with "jokes" about killing journalists is a thing that happens when the head of your party is explicitly in favor of party members assaulting them. https://t.co/jRdVL2HKYg

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 21, 2020