Manan Trivedi and Fellow Veterans Call Out Congressman Jim Gerlach in Latest Ad

After Being Attacked for Being Away from Berks, Says He’d Be Happy to Compare Military Service to Failed Record Any Day

ELVERSON, Pa. – Fmr. Lt. Commander Manan Trivedi released his third ad of the general election today, calling out Congressman Jim Gerlach for his offensive and out-of-touch attacks on Trivedi for being away from Berks County while serving in the Navy. The ad features four fellow Veterans sitting with Trivedi, detailing Gerlach’s record of hurting the people of the 6th Congressional District while down in Washington, DC.

The ad, “Any Day,” can be viewed here. The transcript and fact check are below.

Throughout the campaign, Gerlach has attempted to make an issue of the fact that Trivedi was away from Berks County during the last eight years. Those eight years include Trivedi’s time in the Navy, where he reached the rank of Lt. Commander, including his time on active duty in Camp Pendleton, at BUMED, and with the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of the Marine Corps as one of the first units to cross the border into Iraq. Trivedi was a battalion surgeon, or the head doctor, for that infantry battalion, meaning he was at the very frontlines of the war, triaging and treating the men in the field.

During that same time, Gerlach was down in Washington, DC, voting again and again for policies that favored bankers on Wall Street over the hard-working men and women of the 6th District. He voted against ending the tax breaks that reward corporations that ship American jobs to foreign countries. He voted to bail out Wall Street but then voted against clamping down on their reckless practices that got this country into this economic mess in the first place. And while the people of this community are seeing their pay cut or losing their jobs, Gerlach was taking pay raises — 5, totaling $19,300.

Trivedi says, in the ad, “I’ll proudly compare what I was doing during my last 8 years to yours any day.”

The ad not only highlights the stark difference between the two men’s records, but also their campaign tactic. While Trivedi’s comparative ad features him talking directly into the camera, like his two other ads, Gerlach’s negative attack ad has only photos of Gerlach and a phantom voiceover speaking for him. Throughout the entire campaign, Gerlach has been content to communicate with his constituents as indirectly as possible, hiding behind a campaign spokesperson, including for the comments made about his time in the military, and declining to join at least four debates that Trivedi accepted. While the two candidates clearly disagree on a number of issues, and while Gerlach should be willing to publicly explain why he is attacking a man’s service in the military, he seems content to remain in his campaign office or down in Washington, DC.

Watch “Any Day” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QPcr4rqNDM