Nancy Soderberg charges opponent with blaming her for 9/11 attacks

The nascent race to replace Rep. Ron DeSantis in Florida’s 6th Congressional District took an unexpected turn Wednesday, when likely Democratic nominee Nancy Soderberg charged that one of her Republican opponents blamed her for the 9/11 attacks.

In a fundraising email entitled “Dick Cheney‘s adviser is blaming me for 9/11,” Soderberg seemed to be targeting comments made by Mike Waltz, a Republican who entered the race Tuesday after an extended pre-candidacy

When asked about the challenge posed by Soderberg on Fox and Friends, Waltz said he welcomed the debate with Soderberg, citing September 11, 2001, in his comments.

“We look at what happened in our foreign policy under the Clinton years, that ended up leading to 9/11 and of the mess we are dealing with today,” said Waltz, a former Green Beret who served in various theaters in the Global War on Terror.

Waltz moved on to other roles post-service, including Cheney’s Senior Advisor for South Asia and Counterterrorism, a role preceded by being director for Afghanistan policy for the Secretary of Defense.

Soderberg took the Cheney association and ran with it.

“One of my potential challengers on the Republican side is Dick Cheney’s former advisor—and he’s trying to blame ME for 9/11,” wrote Soderberg, calling the gambit “very Cheney-esque.”

Soderberg charged that “the Bush-Cheney administration sat on its heels and ignored sign after sign, and CIA memo after memo over their first nine months. (And most critically, in the weeks right before 9/11 happened.).”

On behalf of Waltz, spokesman Tim Baker linked Soderberg’s broadside with an attack from GOP primary opponent John Ward, who welcomed Waltz to the race by painting him as a “Never Trump” Republican.

“Soderberg and John Ward are political twins, devoid of positive ideas of how to make America great again, instead basing their campaigns on attacking a decorated combat veteran less than 24 hours after he announces his desire to continue defending America and serving his fellow citizens. It’s sad really and the people of District 6 deserve better,” Baker asserted.

Ward and Waltz are not alone in their quest for the GOP nomination; political veteran Fred Costello is also in the field.