Trump-endorsed senatorial candidate Hung Cao won the Virginia GOP primary on Tuesday and now faces incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, former Governor of Virginia, in November.
Kaine, the DNC’s 2016 vice presidential nominee with Hillary Clinton, released a new digital ad this week which features Cao criticizing the town of Staunton (and its newspaper) as “podunk.”
Kaine refutes the word — and Cao’s overall disrespect toward rural Virginia — and reveals that he and his wife Anne honeymooned in Staunton in 1984.
NEW AD: On day one of the #VASen general election, @timkaine releases a new digital ad highlighting how he stands up and respects all Virginians while his opponent disrespects rural Virginia.
Watch here pic.twitter.com/b0Fq7APRc0
— Michael Beyer (@michbeyer) June 19, 2024
In the same ad, Cao is heard on an audio recording complaining about having to “drive six and a half hours down to Abingdon… to answer questions, it’s just ridonkulous.” (Note: Anne Kaine’s aunt lived in Abingdon.)
Cao, a retired Navy Captain, lives in Purcellville, Virginia, with his wife and their five children.
Happy Birthday to our next President of the United States, @realDonaldTrump! With Trump back in the White House, we will Make America Great Again! pic.twitter.com/KjkEWRGAJt
— Hung Cao (@HungCao_VA) June 14, 2024
Kaine says at the end of the ad, “Elitists who won’t show up for you, will never stand up for you.” He adds, “I stand up for all Virginians.”
Biden DNC delegate Christopher Hale, an Obama White House and campaign alum, responded to the ad by writing: “Tim Kaine is one of the best-performing Democrats in rural America. He understands what too many Democrats do not — respect for the rural way of life precedes any policy proposal we want to put forward to the voters.”