In response to Senator Cotton’s ads against HHS nominee Becerra, Accountable Senate War Room is setting the record straight on Cotton’s true motivations — his allegiance to Big Pharma

To assuage his special interest donors, Cotton has waged a war against this confirmation because he knows Becerra has a track record of holding special interests like Big Pharma accountable 

Accountable Senate War Room: “Tom Cotton is so deep inside the pocket of Big Pharma that he’s now doing their bidding by launching bad-faith attacks against Xavier Becerra”  

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Accountable Senate War Room launched an ad campaign calling out Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), for his bad-faith attack ads against Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s pick for Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary. As Cotton runs inaccurate and misleading attacks against Becerra in states other than Arkansas, Accountable.US is working to ensure that the American people know Cotton’s real motivations behind opposing Becerra: that he is acting on behalf of his special interest campaign donors, the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, which Becerra has taken on as attorney general, fighting for American patients and families.

“Tom Cotton is so deep inside the pocket of Big Pharma that he’s now doing their bidding by launching bad-faith attacks against Xavier Becerra,” said Mairead Lynn, spokesperson for Accountable Senate War Room. “These false and misleading attacks are nothing but an effort to hide the truth: Xavier Becerra is a proven leader who has taken on Big Pharma in the past and will do it again as HHS secretary, and this terrifies Cotton’s donors. While his constituents in Arkansas continue to suffer, Cotton has focused on protecting his special interests, proving his loyalty lies with whoever writes the biggest checks.” 

Tom Cotton has accepted over $121,000 from the pharmaceutical industry and $422,300 from the insurance industry. Instead of working to get his constituents in Arkansas back on their feet in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cotton is instead channeling his energy into attacking the credentials of Xavier Becerra, who would lead the very department that oversees vaccine distribution and manages the pandemic response. Considering the new administration inherited next to nothing in terms of a vaccine distribution plan, Biden needs Becerra at the helm of HHS to ensure all Americans who want a vaccine have access to it. Given the amount of money he has taken from Big Pharma and the insurance industry, Cotton’s attacks against Becerra cannot be taken seriously.

The ad campaign will run in New Hampshire and Georgia, where Cotton is running his ads against Becerra. The campaign is backed by tens of thousands of dollars and will run for several weeks.

Below is just one of the ads Accountable is running to expose Cotton’s ties to Big Pharma:

The Senate is already significantly behind in the confirmation process for President Biden’s Cabinet due to historic obstruction from Republicans in charge during the lame-duck period. Amid a once-in-a-generation pandemic that has led to mass sickness and death, the American people cannot afford any more delays. President Biden needs a crisis-tested HHS secretary in place to continue working to get the pandemic under control and get the American people back on their feet.

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