CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Attorney General Alan Wilson and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace have called on Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to take down TV ads that they claim falsely suggest she has earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump and Gov. Henry McMaster.
In the 30-second spot, Trump is heard praising Evette at rallies while McMaster appears on screen saying, “Pam is what South Carolina is all about,” and “I believe in Pam Evette.” A narrator chimes in with “handpicked by Henry McMaster.”
The quotes appear to be reused footage from McMaster’s 2018 campaign when he introduced Evette as his running mate. Neither Trump nor McMaster has endorsed a candidate for governor.
Republican rivals for the governor’s office, Wilson and Mace, have both called the ad misleading and demanded it be taken down.
“It is wrong for Pamela Evette and her campaign to attempt to confuse voters with an ad from 2017 and speak for Governor McMaster and President Trump when both have made it clear they have not endorsed anyone in this race,” Wilson said in a press release. “That’s not honest, not the way to do business, and it is not fair to South Carolina families.”
“Evette’s ad is nothing more than smoke and mirrors from a politician who knows she can’t win on her record,” said Piper Gifford, spokesperson for Mace. “South Carolina voters deserve honesty, not fake endorsements from a candidate who lies.”
The ad was not directly created by Evette, but rather by the Evette-aligned super PAC Patriots for South Carolina. A spokesperson for Evette’s campaign, Matthew Goins, dismissed the demands.
“If I were Nancy or Alan and saw those recent poll numbers, I’d be freaking out, too. The people of South Carolina are tired of career politicians,” Goins said.
Recent polls from Monday show a tight race for S.C. governor.