'Voter' In Anti-Fetterman Ad Once Authored Op-Ed Questioning Obama's 'Nationality'
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Janice Hollis, seen in a new political ad, once represented a group of Black clergy members opposed to then-President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage. (Photo: Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund/YouTube)
A Republican super PAC supporting Mehmet Oz’s Senate campaign has spent $1.5 million to air two TV advertisements aiming to discredit Democratic opponent John Fetterman in the eyes of Black voters.
The ads, funded by the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund, feature two Black Pennsylvania voters arguing that a 2013 incident in which Fetterman pursued an unarmed Black jogger is disqualifying. (Fetterman, who was armed with a shotgun, said he was responding to hearing gunshots and did not see the man’s skin color until later on.)
“My message to Black voters: Do your homework about John Fetterman,” says a woman identified as Janice H. in the spot, titled “No Way.”
The ad does not tell us anything about Janice’s political or professional background.
But Janice H. is Janice Hollis, an evangelical minister and media consultant who has been involved in conservative politics for years.
Hollis was active in a coalition of conservative Black ministers that criticized then-President Barack Obama for supporting same-sex marriage in 2012, and that later rebuked the Congressional Black Caucus for engaging in what the clergy called the CBC’s “sophomoric” protest during then-President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in 2018. (Members of the CBC had worn kente cloth to the speech.)
Her byline also appears on an op-ed endorsing Mitt Romney’s presidential run in 2012 that cast doubt on whether Obama was born in the United States.
“We have a sitting president whose religion is questioned, whose nationality is questioned, whose passport is questioned, whose economic theory is questioned, whose so-called apology tour is questioned, and whose policies governing the fate of the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi is questioned,” said the op-ed, which appeared in Christian Newswire. “There is a lot we do not know about him.”
Hollis told HuffPost that she did not author the op-ed, she never signed off on having it attributed to her, and she was furious with the person who solicited her participation in it.
“I did not like a lot of the things that President Obama stood for,” Hollis told HuffPost. “However, as a Black person, was I happy to see him be elected? Yeah, it represents progress in our country.”
Referring to the insinuation that Obama might not be a U.S. citizen, she added, “They were trying to stir up something racial and it was a very cheap shot.”
In addition, the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund’s second television ad, “We Do Too,” features a Black Pennsylvania voter identified as “Melvin J.”
“Melvin J.” is Melvin Prince Johnakin, head of an economic development corporation in Philadelphia. In 2020, Johnakin ran as an independent write-in candidate against Rep. Dwight Evans (D) in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District after failing to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot as a Republican. (An effort to run for the seat as a Democrat likewise collapsed following a challenge to his eligibility.)
In an interview with the Philly Leader, Johnakin said he had “always” been a Republican and made an impassioned case for Black Philadelphians to vote for then-President Donald Trump, whom he said “seems like an awesome guy.”
“It’d be foolish for anyone in this area to vote for anyone but Trump,” he said.
He is now listed as public relations director for the American Real Voice PAC, which supported “America First policies” and candidates who advocated for those policies. The group’s media gallery includes photos of members posing with Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s far-right Republican gubernatorial candidate.
It is not uncommon for candidates to imply that seasoned activists who appear in their advertisements are simply ordinary people supporting their bids.
What makes Hollis and Johnakin’s participation more notable is that it is part of a pattern of Oz and his allies employing professional Republicans and conservatives to claim he is making inroads with Black voters.
In late September, Oz’s campaign held a panel discussion on violent crime in northwest Philadelphia where he spoke empathetically with local resident Sheila Armstrong as she discussed losing her brother and nephew in shootings.
Some of the reporting initially failed to note that Oz’s campaign has employed Armstrong, making it seem instead as though she were a neighborhood resident without any ties to Oz.
Hollis claimed that she was unaware of the name of the group behind the TV ad, telling HuffPost that she had done it at the behest of a friend. She also said that while she is conservative, she is “not enamored with either party,” and that she has advised Democratic candidates as well.
Hollis even implied that she is leaning against voting for Mastriano.
“I don’t think he has it within him to be … open” to different perspectives, she said.
Asked for comment about the choice of two individuals with a history of professional work or activism in Republican politics, Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, dismissed the idea that their backgrounds are relevant.
“The important thing here is these are REAL voters and leaders in the African American community who participated voluntarily and were not compensated in any manner,” he wrote in an email.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.