Linda McMahon’s U.S. Senate campaign is refusing a request by Edward Kennedy Jr. to remove a web ad of an Aug. 13, 1963 address given by his uncle, the assassinated president.
McMahon’s campaign is using the footage of John F. Kennedy in a web ad to show the wisdom of a tax cut, but Kennedy’s nephew who lives in Branford called it “dishonest” and said it “distorts the legacy of President Kennedy.”
In this letter to the McMahon campaign, Kennedy said it “falsely implies that President Kennedy would support tax cuts for the same reasons you do.”
McMahon is the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race vying for U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd’s seat against Democratic nominee Richard Blumenthal.
Kennedy said the economic scenario was “extremely different” in 1963 than it is today.
“In 1963 there was virtually no deficit and the top tax rate was 91 percent for income over $400,000. Today, the annual U.S. deficit is nearly $1.5 trillion and the top tax rate is 35 percent for income over $372,500,” Kennedy wrote.
“You attempt to conflate your economic policies with those of President Kennedy’s in order to capitalize on his legacy. Please stop misleading voters,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy said McMahon’s desire to extend tax cuts to all Americans including the top 2 percent of the population endorses the legacy of George W. Bush, not President Kennedy.
“Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax cuts because he recognized that a high tax ‘reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment and risk-taking,’” Ed Patru, McMahon’s communications director, said in a statement. “That was the case 47 years ago, and it’s the case today.”
The McMahon campaign said it won’t be taking the ad down anytime soon and could begin airing it on television in the future.