Oops: Group Runs Ad Thanking David Young For Vote That Didn’t Happen

Central Iowa viewers watching the NCAA tournament last night may have been a wee bit confused when they saw a TV ad congratulating David Young for a vote he didn’t take on a bill he didn’t support.

Deadspin found the humorous mixup made by the conservative American Action Network PAC, which somehow ran a number of ads thanking Republican members of Congress for supporting Paul Ryan’s healthcare bill. The legislation was dramatically pulled from a vote Friday afternoon after Ryan decided he didn’t have enough support to pass it, and the White House announced they were moving on from healthcare reform.

“Thank Congressman David Young for keeping his promise and replacing the Affordable Care Act with the better healthcare you deserve,” the narrator says at the end of the ad.

It’s peculiar enough that the ad ran as is hours after the Republican healthcare plan went down in flames. It’s even weirder because Young said he wasn’t going to vote for it. On Wednesday his office put out a statement saying Young couldn’t support the legislation as it was written. We never got to see if the rushed changes leadership put into the bill at the last minute might have flipped him on an actual vote, but considering the modifications were aimed at pleasing the very conservative House Freedom Caucus, it’s unlikely his choice would have changed.

Young did face serious fallout from Ryan earlier in the week when he announced his opposition. The Des Moines Register reported that Ryan’s leadership PAC would not support Young in his reelection race anymore for his refusal to back the bill. They helped Young to the tune of nearly $2 million in 2016.

But hey, at least Young is still getting outside spending help on Iowa airwaves. It’s just not very, you know, accurate.

by Pat Rynard
Posted 3/25/17