Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter is under fire after releasing an attack ad against Ammar Campa-Najjar that called him a security risk and claimed he received support from the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR, reports Newsweek.
Hunter is already in the hot seat after he and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were indicted in August on 60 counts of misusing campaign funds.
His Democratic opponent, 29-year-old Palestinian Mexican American Campa-Najjar, told Newsweek that the accusations in the ad were a “continuation of [Hunter’s] ongoing meltdown.” He called the ad “sad and dishonest.”
The ad, paid for by Hunter’s campaign for California’s 50th district, claims Campa-Najjar is “working to infiltrate Congress” and that he changed his name “to hide his family’s ties to terrorism.” It continues on to attack his grandfather and father. Then the ad claims he received support from Muslim organizations, part of a “well-orchestrated plan,” and ends by saying Campa-Najjar is “a risk we can’t ignore.”
Campa-Najjar released evidence to prove the accusations false.
Campa-Najjar said that his mother’s maiden name was Campa, so he added it to his own name to pay homage to his heritage. He also showed a certificate of proof for the time he spent working for the U.S. Department of Labor during the Obama administration, saying that as a former member of the White House, he was “given a security clearance by the Secret Service after a thorough background check.”
“The irony is that due to his criminal indictment, financial instabilities and excessive drinking, Congressman Hunter would be denied a security clearance today if he were to apply for the same one I got,” said Campa-Najjar.
Hunter has said that Campa-Najjar changed his name from Ammar Yasser Najjar to Ammar Campa-Najjar “so he sounds Hispanic.”
“That is how hard, by the way, that the radical Muslims are trying to infiltrate the U.S. government,” Hunter said. “You had more Islamists run for office this year at the federal level than ever before in U.S. history.”
“He never made the claim that his opponent is Muslim. That’s for his opponent to answer,” Hunter’s campaign spokesman Mike Harrison told the Los Angeles Times. “What we have heard is he’s claimed to be a Christian, and again, that’s for Ammar’s campaign to discuss.”
“I’m Christian,” Campa-Najjar said. “Not that that should matter because our freedom in this country is [based on] the constitution, which gives you freedom of and from religion to practice whatever faith you want.”
Campa-Najjar’s Palestinian grandfather, Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar, was behind the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics that resulted in 11 Israeli deaths, but he said his grandfather was killed 16 years before he was born. He has also repeatedly denounced his grandfather’s actions, according to the New York Times.
“What is a fact is our opponent has changed his name; that’s not in dispute,” said Harrison. “He does have family ties to terrorists; that’s not in dispute.”
Campa-Najjar said Hunter’s ad is “clearly a sign of somebody who is distraught and has lost their grip on reality.”
“Rule number one of an incumbent,” said Campa-Najjar. “You never say the name of your opponent. Unless you feel threatened by them.”
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