Republican Group Uses Elizabeth Warren to Attack Hillary

American Crossroads, a well know Republican Super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove, has put out an ad attacking Hillary Clinton for ties to foreign leaders. The kicker is that the ad is entirely narrated using the voice of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The line of attack stems from a story we posted yesterday about the Clinton Foundation accepting donations from foreign governments.

Report from the IBTimes:

A new attack ad leveled at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that uses sound clips of Elizabeth Warren doesn’t actually come from the Democratic U.S. Senator from Massachusetts but instead was paid for by American Crossroads, a Republican group not tied to Warren. The ad, titled “Rigged,” went live on Sunday and alleged that Clinton would have a conflict of interest if she were elected president because the Clinton Foundation, the group founded by former President Bill Clinton and which Hillary became involved with after stepping down as secretary of state, accepts donations from foreign governments.

“Powerful interests have tried to capture Washington and rig the system in their favor. The power of well-funded special interests tilts our democracy away from the people and toward the powerful,” Warren says as images of Hillary Clinton are shown with Middle Eastern leaders. The ad from American Crossroads, which backs Republican candidates, claims the Clinton Foundation “took millions from foreign governments,” including up to $5 million from the United Arab Emirates, up to $25 million from Saudi Arabia and “potentially millions from Qatar,” which American Crossroads describes as “a prominent backer of Hamas,” the Palestinian militant group. Warren’s voice continues: “Action is required to defend our great democracy against those that would see it perverted into one more rigged game where the rich and the powerful always win.”

Progressive Democrats are urging Warren to run for president, but the Massachusetts senator has consistently denied that she’ll mount a 2016 campaign. American Crossroads acknowledges that it uses Warren’s voice in its ad, but unless the watcher is aware that American Crossroads backs Republican candidates, it may be unclear if it actually came from Warren. American Crossroads’ leadership includes Mike Duncan, a former Republican National Committee chairman, and Steven Law, deputy labor secretary under former President George W. Bush and an ex-staffer to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. [Emphasis added]

I’ve seen the ad (watch it here) and it absolutely does appear to be an attack originating from Elizabeth Warren if you don’t pay much attention to who is sponsoring it. I can’t figure out if they’re trying to hurt Clinton and perhaps create more interest in Warren as a primary challenge or just launching the attack in general to get it into the public square. Would it benefit Republicans to let Hillary be coronated or try to force her into a primary against the left?

To be starting this early tells me they’re trying to goad Democrats into challenging Hillary by highlighting her perceived weaknesses.