PolitiFact Takes Down Cramer’s Lies about Heidi’s Legislative Record

“We rate [Cramer’s] statement False.”

(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer (R-Harold Hamm) can’t seem to catch a break. After being snubbed by President Trump, blaming the White House for GOP legislative failures and defending a GOP candidatewho was caught peeping on college freshmen women, Cramer is now being called out by PolitiFact for lying about Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s record.

“North Dakotans are seeing Kevin Cramer come completely unglued right before their eyes – defending a convicted window-peeper, lashing out at the White House for his own insecurities and now, telling baseless lies about Heidi Heitkamp,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “It’s clear that Cramer doesn’t have real accomplishments to run on, so now, he’s taking a page from Mitch McConnell’s swampy playbook and campaigning from the gutter. Fortunately, North Dakotans won’t let Kevin Cramer lie his way into the U.S. Senate.”

Below are key points from PolitiFact’s takedown of Kevin Cramer’s lie:

PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations

  • North Dakota Democrats bragged on Twitter that during the bill’s signing Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, got a shoutout from President Donald Trump while Rep. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, lurked in the background. Cramer shot back that Heitkamp only discovered an interest in relieving regulations for banks after Cramer applied pressure.

  • We were curious: Did Heitkamp’s interest in regulatory relief flower overnight? It’s something other Democrats have criticized her for, so we wondered if it was an election-year stance.

  • A review of the evidence shows that Heitkamp has been working on banking issues since she was elected in 2012. She joined the Senate Banking Committee in 2013.

  • “During the entirety of (her tenure), she has often expressed a desire for regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions,” said Rob Blackwell, editor of American Banker. “The idea that she’s a johnny-come-lately to regulatory reform just doesn’t hold water.”

  • “The North Dakota Democrat has emerged as a key player on the Banking Committee, helping to work on a bipartisan housing finance reform bill and championing legislation to provide relief to small banks,” the profile reads. “In doing so, she has impressed bankers in her home state and her fellow legislators with her commitment to financial issues and willingness to work across the political aisle.”

  • Heitkamp has been an advocate of regulatory relief for small banks since she ran for the Senate in 2012. Cramer announced his Senate bid in February.