Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is one of the biggest offenders of heavy spending on the midterm elections, despite taking to the Senate floor to criticize the Koch brothers and other key Republican donors, MSBNC "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough said Friday.
Reid in March called billionaires Charles and David Koch un-American and immoral for the large donations they have made toward the midterm elections,
reports The Washington Free Beacon.
However, the Senate Majority PAC, which has ties to the Nevada Democrat, has spent the most during the midterm election cycle,
reports NPR, quoting data from the Federal Election Commission that was analyzed by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
"[It is] sad and pathetic when somebody calls a person un-American, especially when they are bigger offenders of the action he defines as 'un-American,'" Scarborough said on his show.
Reid's PAC has given more than $32 million to Democratic races this year, Scarborough pointed out.
"We can show you a lot of ads that [Senate Majority PAC has] been running, but a lot of negative ads all over the country," Scarborough said.
Ty Matsdorf, the campaign manager for Senate Majority PAC, told NPR that pundits would have said 12 months ago that "Democrats would be marching towards historic losses."
But, he claimed that in every battleground Senate race, the contests are either tied or Democrats are slightly ahead.
Republicans need to gain seats to take over the Senate this fall.
According to Real Clear Politics, nine of the midterm races are ranked as tossups.
Democratic consultant Michael Meehan told NPR that the PAC "went in early and heavy and where many vulnerable incumbents are, particularly in the South, North Carolina, places where the race matured much sooner than I've seen in any other cycle."
NPR reports that the PAC has spent roughly $9 million in North Carolina alone. The group did not get involved in the race in Alaska, but instead gave $5 million to a state PAC to help Begich, a move that Republican consultant Rob Jesmer said was "pretty smart," as the PAC "knew that their brand would not be well-received in Alaska."
NPR correspondent Peter Overby commented that the PAC has a "golden touch" with donors and top consultants with ties to Reid. Further, he said, its members are a "who's who" of wealthy liberals that includes billionaire Tom Steyer, Democratic donor Fred Eychaner, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"That group benefits from being known as the de facto Harry Reid PAC, and we don't really have that on the Republican side," said Jesmer.
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