Toomey's campaign hopes the ad will reinforce an image of the senator as bipartisan and independent ahead of Tuesday's election. | Getty Obama criticizes Toomey for using his praise in late ad

President Barack Obama sharply criticized Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Pat Toomey Saturday, after the Republican's campaign began airing a late ad Friday night that featured past praise from the president.

The ad uses footage of an Obama statement following the failure of the 2013 Manchin-Toomey proposal to expand background checks on gun sales. Obama praised Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative West Virginia Democrat, for their "courage" in pushing the proposal.


Toomey's campaign hopes the ad will reinforce an image of the senator as bipartisan and independent ahead of Tuesday's election in a state Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is likely to win.

But Obama has endorsed Democrat Katie McGinty in the contest — an endorsement that has featured prominently in McGinty's own advertising this year. Obama, McGinty's campaign and national Democrats are crying foul over Toomey's use of the footage, noting the senator has overwhelmingly opposed most of Obama's agenda.

"Pat Toomey may have done the right thing on one vote, but courage is telling Pennsylvania voters where you stand on the tough issues, not just the easy ones like background checks," Obama said in a statement Saturday afternoon. "Pat Toomey won't tell Pennsylvania voters where he stands on Donald Trump, trying instead to have it both ways by telling different people what he thinks they want to hear. That's not courage. Voting to shut down the government and against bills to close the terrorist gun loophole isn't courage."

"We had a Democrat and a Republican come together and work together to write a common-sense compromise on background checks, and I want to thank Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey for their courage in doing that," Obama says in the footage used in the Toomey ad. "Pat Toomey fights for us."

"Pat Toomey fights for us," a narrator concludes over footage of Toomey talking with a multiracial crowd.

DSCC spokesman Lauren Passalacqua criticized the Toomey campaign's move.

"Senator Toomey refuses to answer questions about whether he’ll vote Donald Trump, said just two days ago he thinks Trump will sign 'constructive' legislation and is now using a president he’s opposed at every turn to try to save his own career," she said. "This is among the most disingenuous stunts we've seen in a cycle full of them."

The Toomey campaign saw nothing wrong with the spot.

"Pat Toomey is proud of the bipartisan work he's done to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill," spokesman Ted Kwong said. "He's been praised by leaders on both sides of the aisle, including President Obama, for his efforts and we will continue to highlight that record."

Obama will have another big opportunity to respond to the ad soon: He's expected to campaign for Clinton and McGinty at a rally Monday in Philadelphia. The McGinty campaign is also airing two different ads featuring the endorsement of first lady Michelle Obama.

"We need leaders in the Senate like Katie McGinty and other Democrats who share our values and will stand up for us on the issues that matter most — from good jobs, to equal pay for women, to affordable health care," Michelle Obama says in one of the ads.

Also on Saturday, an affiliate of a super PAC that works to elect Senate Democrats launched a new campaign attacking Toomey over guns — part of a existing $800,000 campaign in the Philadelphia media market meant to neutralize what has been the focal point of Toomey’s claim to bipartisanship.

The package of three ads feature survivors and family members of victims of recent mass shootings, such as the 2012 massacre at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and the shooting of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) at a constituent event in 2011.

The ads feature Toomey’s opposition to an assault weapons ban and banning high capacity ammunition clips. One ad features Patricia Maisch, who wrestled the clip away from Giffords shooter Jared Loughner during the 2011 shooting.

“I wish Pat Toomey could have seen firsthand how gun violence destroys lives,” Maisch says in the ad. “Instead, Toomey opposes a ban on assault weapons, and opposes banning high capacity ammo clips. We need real leaders to stop gun violence. That’s not Pat Toomey.”

“When push comes to shove, Pat Toomey stands with the gun lobby in opposition to commonsense measures to keep people safe,” said Shripal Shah, spokesman for Majority Forward, an affiliate of Senate Majority PAC. “We’re going to make sure that Pennsylvania voters know the truth about his record.”

Earlier this year, the White House called for a super PAC backing Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards' Senate bid to take down an ad that used footage of Obama discussing the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. The ad was attacking Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who went on to win the primary.