Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) encouraged supporters at a recent campaign event to scare their employees into voting for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
In a video released by progressive super PAC CREDO and first reported on by the Chicago Sun-Times, Walsh can be seen advising business owners and managers to apply a little suggestive pressure on their workers.
"If you run, manage or own a company tell your employees. What was the CEO this week that said, 'If Obama is reelected, I may have to let all of you go next year? If Obama's reelected, if the Democrats take Congress, I may not be able to cover your health insurance next year,'" Walsh said. "If there's ever a year where people who run, manage, or own their companies are going to energize their employees, it better be this year. We're up against it."
Walsh appears to be referencing a recent trend of wealthy businessmen contacting their workers to push them to support Romney. Last week, David Siegel, founder and CEO of giant timeshare company Westgate resorts, told his employees directly that their jobs would be at risk if President Barack Obama won a second term. Days later, an email from Arthur Allen, CEO of ASG Software Solutions, leaked, showing that he'd told his workers that there would be repercussions for the company if Obama won in November.
Ohio-based Murray Energy, a coal company, has also drawn scrutiny over allegations that it coerced its staff into attending a pro-Romney rally, forcing them to give up a day of pay.
CREDO has been on the forefront of efforts opposing Walsh's campaign for a second term. They've tracked many of his events, which have revealed no shortage of controversial remarks by the Tea Party-backed congressman. The super PAC has also made Walsh a member of its "Tea Party ten," a list of controversial Republican lawmakers including Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) that the group is seeking to unseat.
The Sun-Times reports that CREDO has spent $165,437 in the district in hopes of making Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth's task less difficult. According to a separate report from the Sun Times on Tuesday, however, this sum has since been dwarfed by a $2.5 million super PAC negative ad buy against Duckworth. A day earlier, Duckworth's campaign had announced a third-quarter fundraising total of around $1.5 million, five times larger than Walsh's $251,000 over the same period.
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