GOP challenger accuses Michigan senator of wielding coronavirus as a political weapon

The coronavirus is seeping into the 2020 campaign, this time in the critical battleground of Michigan, where Republican Senate candidate John James is running a new television ad accusing Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of using the global pandemic to distort his position on healthcare.

The James campaign is spending "six figures" to air the 30-second spot on broadcast and cable television across Michigan, a state that offers the GOP a legitimate opportunity to pick up a Senate seat in November. In the ad, James speaks directly to the camera as he calls Peters a liar and suggests that the Democrat is using the spread of COVID-19 to score political points. James is mounting his second campaign for Senate after coming up short against Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2018.

"Sen. Gary Peters just launched his campaign with a lie. A lie about healthcare while America is facing its worst health crisis in decades. He’s exploiting our fears for his own political gain," James says at the spot opens.

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