Ad By Crossroads, Karl Rove's Outfit, Yanked Off Air For Being False (UPDATE)

Ad By Karl Rove's Crossroads Yanked Off Air

WASHINGTON -- An ad by Karl Rove-backed Crossroads GPS was yanked from rotation on a Montana cable show because it made claims that the network deemed false.

Recently a number of ads by the well-funded conservative outfit have been declared misleading and false, but the spot targeting Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is apparently the first pulled from the air. The Associated Press reported that other outlets are still running the ad.

In it, Tester is accused of supporting an Environmental Protection Agency rule -- a rule that was never in fact proposed -- to regulate farm dust. But the vote that the ad cites actually had nothing to do with dust or the EPA; it was a procedural vote on a measure aimed at cracking down on China for manipulating currency.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had hoped to bring up the anti-EPA amendment -- which targeted regulation of soot, not farm dust -- but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) never even let it get to the floor.

Because of that, Cablevision's Optimum cable service dropped the ad, the AP reported.

Crossroads GPS, which is affiliated with American Crossroads, has also been heavily criticized for ads in several other states, including spots attacking Democratic Senate contenders Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Tim Kaine in Virginia.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post highlighted Friday how the Warren spot "falsely insinuates" that Warren supports violence by Occupy Wall Street protesters. And PolitiFact rated as "mostly false" claims made against Kaine. The Kaine spot also accused him of running a deficit as governor of Virginia, but Virginia state law prohibits deficits.

A spokesman for Crossroads GPS could not immediately be reached for comment.

UPDATE: Friday 7:17 p.m. and 8:50 p.m. -- Nate Hodson of Crossroads said in defense of the pulled ad, "It was a very small cable system. The four largest broadcast stations in Montana reviewed the facts supporting the ad and will continue airing it."

He said later, "We are communicating with the cable system and expect that the ad will be back up and running on cable soon."

WATCH the Montana ad:

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