A planned Zoom call between No Labels and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was canceled when backlash ensued after reports about the call leaked.
NBC News obtained an email from No Labels co-executive director Liz Morrison, inviting people to a Zoom call with LaRose, who is running for Senate.
“The Senate race in Ohio has now come down to a choice between a Trump-favored candidate (Bernie Moreno, who is a self-funder) — and our longtime friend, problem solver and current Secretary of State, Frank LaRose,” Morrison wrote.
“We cannot recommend more emphatically your support for Frank LaRose. The choice is now for a Trump Senator or an Independent Senator,” Morrison said, referring to LaRose as “independent” and Bernie Moreno as a Trump Senator.
After NBC News reported about the planned Zoom call, Ben Kindel, LaRose’s campaign communications director, claimed that reports about it were “fake news.”
“Fake news. there is no call with No Labels. Frank LaRose has nothing to do with this group and his labels are clear: Husband, Father, Green Beret, Conservative, Ohio Republican,” he said.
Fake news. there is no call with No Labels. Frank LaRose has nothing to do with this group and his labels are clear: Husband, Father, Green Beret, Conservative, Ohio Republican. https://t.co/sTRWF5Zmo4
— Ben Kindel (@kindelbr) March 5, 2024
But audio of the call proves Kindel lied when he said the planned Zoom call was “fake news.”
Andrew Surabian, a Republican strategist, obtained audio of the call, saying, “LEAKED AUDIO: After the backlash @FrankLaRose received from getting caught redhanded trying to raise money from pro-gun control and pro-amnesty No Labels, he cancelled his zoom call with them at the last minute due to a ‘scheduling mishap.'”
LEAKED AUDIO: After the backlash @FrankLaRose received from getting caught redhanded trying to raise money from pro-gun control and pro-amnesty No Labels, he cancelled his zoom call with them at the last minute due to a "scheduling mishap." pic.twitter.com/UAeN9ynyq3
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) March 6, 2024
Arthur Schwartz, another strategist, wrote, “If this was fake news & there was no call scheduled, can you explain this leaked audio from the pro-amnesty gun-grabbing No Labels people apologizing for canceling their zoom with LaRose?”
If this was fake news & there was no call scheduled, can you explain this leaked audio from the pro-amnesty gun-grabbing No Labels people apologizing for canceling their zoom with LaRose? pic.twitter.com/i72DNxFvG9
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) March 6, 2024
NBC News reporter Henry Gomez said during the call a No Labels official apologized for a “scheduling mishap” and said that LaRose would not attend the meeting.
He wrote, “A No Labels official joined this call yesterday, apologized for a “scheduling mishap” and said attendees would not be hearing from LaRose as planned, per audio from someone on the call. Ben is LaRose’s spokesperson. He and the No Labels folks have ignored requests for comment.”
A No Labels official joined this call yesterday, apologized for a "scheduling mishap" and said attendees would not be hearing from LaRose as planned, per audio from someone on the call.
— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) March 6, 2024
Ben is LaRose's spokesperson. He and the No Labels folks have ignored requests for comment. https://t.co/ZB6nnXgodW
LaRose has supported the No Labels organization, a group that is planning to run a third-party presidential candidate in 2024 and backs gun control and amnesty for illegal aliens.
LaRose has taken money from LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman.
Breitbart News reported:
Hoffman once spent $4.5 million to work with several media firms and the anti-Trump Lincoln Project to produce ads attacking former President Donald Trump.
Hoffman, who reportedly visited alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s island, helped fund former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s (R) presidential campaign.
In May 2023, Hoffman admitted to visiting Epstein’s private island, Little Saint James, which is more infamously referred to as “Pedophile Island.”
Hoffman also backed E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against Trump.
Hoffman is one of the Democrat Party’s largest donors. He, alongside leftist billionaire George Soros, helped run the clandestine group known as the “Good Information Foundation” and is accused of election meddling.
LaRose has praised No Labels, writing in a 2015 guest column in Ohio newspapers, “I’d been criticized by some for reaching out and working with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. And, I don’t understand that way of thinking.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.