PAC uses heart attack in ad hitting Bernie Sanders

By Alex Thompson and Maggie Severns
·1 min read
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a campaign rally Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Sioux City, Iowa. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A group of pro-Israel Democrats will begin airing an attack ad in Iowa on Wednesday that raises concerns about Bernie Sanders’ 2019 heart attack and calls him too liberal to beat President Donald Trump.

The ad from Democratic Majority for Israel is backed up by at least $681,000 in spending in the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, according to Advertising Analytics. In one version of the ad, an Iowa resident brings up Sanders’ heart attack as a concern about his candidacy, according to a person familiar with the ad.

Mark Mellman, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, said in an interview that the ad is meant to showcase voters “expressing their concerns” about Sanders’ electability.

“The ad raises serious questions about his electability in their own words. Health is one of the things that people raised. But in general people say they like Bernie Sanders, they respect him but they say he can’t win,” Mellman said.