UPDATE 4:40 p.m.: The Brian Mast campaign pulled this ad from the air immediately after it was notified by reporters from the local TCPalm that the former fireman featured in the ad was convicted of domestic battery in 2013. The campaign's YouTube post was removed.
The Washington Free Beacon was unaware of the man's background when the piece was published.
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A former New York City fireman slammed Democrat Lauren Baer for criticizing America before his fellow servicemen killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were even removed from the rubble of the World Trade Center.
John Cosomano, who moved into the southern Florida district Baer is running to represent after retiring from the FDNY, is featured in the latest ad from her opponent, Republican congressman Brian Mast.
His critique of Baer is based on a column she wrote on Oct. 10, 2001, as a student at Harvard University, in which she attacked the United States for its "shameful history." In the column, which was unearthed by the Free Beacon last month, Baer expressed hope that a "humbler and more humane" country would emerge from the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Cosomano said her sentiments were "not acceptable."
"On September 11, 2001, 343 of my friends were taken from us by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center," Cosomano says in the ad. "While my friends were still buried under the rubble, Lauren Baer was writing in the Harvard paper how we needed to be humble."
"We hadn’t even had a memorial service, and she was criticizing America. That’s just not acceptable," he says. "Someone like that could never represent me and my family in the United States Congress."
Incumbent Republican Brian Mast lost both his legs as a member of the Army during a 2010 mission in Afghanistan. His campaign said in a statement on its latest ad that "the United States is the greatest force for human dignity in the world."
"Following September 11th, Congressman Mast was proud to serve in the Army defending American values, and after he lost the ability to serve on the battlefield, it’s been his honor to continue defending those values in Congress," added spokesman Brad Steward.
Baer's campaign has yet to comment on her Harvard column.