Vulnerable Democrat Accidentally Outs Her Connection To China-Backed Company
Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA) has accidentally outed herself for being cozy with a China-backed company after releasing an attack ad against her Republican opponent which claimed that he was in China’s pocket.
Axne, whose district was recently labeled as one that would “lean Republican” in the upcoming election, is attacking GOP challenger Zach Nunn for accepting money from a Chinese company.
There’s just one problem — in 2019, Axne visited and praised the same company she is calling out Nunn for supporting.
On Tuesday, the vulnerable Democrat released an ad against Nunn entitled “Weaken,” in which she claimed that her Republican challenger is in the pocket of the Chinese government because he accepted thousands — $2,500 in campaign contributions — from Syngenta PAC, a political action committee connected to Chinese-owned company Syngenta.
“Communist China is working hard to weaken the U.S.: challenging our military, stealing trade secrets, and putting politicians like Zach Nunn in their pocket,” the ad narrator asserted. “Zach Nunn took thousands from a Chinese government-owned business.”
Axne’s claims in the ad accidentally shed light on a different story from 2019, in which she visited and praised the company.
In November 2019, the vulnerable Democrat visited the company she is now questioning in order to “discuss trade, USMCA, biofuels, technology, and rural broadband with their team and area farmers.”
Axne even shared images from her visit to her Facebook page, saying that she was “glad to hear” from the company and praising it for “powering Iowa agriculture.”
Sygenta was purchased by ChemChina — a Chinese state-owned enterprise — for $43 billion in 2017, two years before the Democrat congresswoman’s photo-op visit to tour the company, and around four years before she decided to care who owned it. As of July 2021, the purchase had remained the biggest foreign acquisition.
While Axne claims that China is “putting politicians… in their pocket,” she seemingly forgot that she was outing herself.
Nunn’s campaign released a statement responding to the Democrat congresswoman’s misleading attack ad, stating that she “should be ashamed of herself for once again launching a despicable smear meant to mislead Iowans.”
“Everything in Cindy Axne’s desperate attack ad is false,” Josh Treat, Nunn’s campaign manager, asserted. “Cindy Axne should be ashamed of herself for once again launching a despicable smear meant to mislead Iowans. Zach Nunn has spent his career honorably serving our country and pushing back against Chinese threats, including in the Air Force and leading recon missions against communists in China.”
Mike Berg, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, also called out the Democrat congresswoman, stating: “Cindy Axne is willing to say and do anything to get reelected. She is too dishonest to represent Iowa.”
Berg also tweeted out a clip of Nunn responding to the attack.
