Rep. Dave Brat, a Virginia Republican running for reelection, accused his Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger of "shouting him down" with a "liberal mob" at a town hall.

But a video that Brat is promoting of Spanberger shows her simply nodding her head and calling out responses to questions he asked of the audience at the gathering.

This comes as Republicans — led by the president — are characterizing Democratic protesters as a dangerous, "angry mob."

In a new attack ad, Rep. Dave Brat, a Virginia Republican running for reelection, accused his Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger of joining a "mob" in "shouting him down" at a town hall, even though Spanberger is shown simply nodding, shaking her head, and calling out responses to his questions in the video.



On Tuesday, Brat tweeted out his new campaign ad, which includes footage of Spanberger, a former CIA officer, attending one of his town halls in which he invited the audience to answer a series of questions about taxation and government regulation.

"How many people want to see individual income tax rate reductions for you in this room? How many people want to see tax increases to fund more programs? How many people want to see corporate tax rate reductions?" Brat asks his audience at the gathering, to which they respond with claps and shouts of "yes" and "no."

The ad singles out Spanberger, who is sitting in the front row nodding, shaking her head, clapping, and calling out answers along with the audience.

Brat ends the town hall by asserting that he is trying to promote a discourse with his constituents.

"Everybody asks for town halls so we can have a civil discourse, and so that's what we're trying to do," he says.

He tweeted alongside the video, "What are we supposed to believe? Abigail Spanberger or our lying eyes? Here's Spanberger caught on tape at a Dave Brat town hall shouting him down and calling for tax increases."

—Dave Brat VA 7th (@DaveBratVA7th) October 8, 2018

Democrats pushed back on the ad, accusing Republicans of characterizing peaceful dissent as some kind of uncivil intimidation tactic.