Fox News' Carl Cameron highlighted a misleading attack ad by Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli while simultaneously smearing his opponent, Terry McAuliffe, as having “had character questions for decades.”

During an October 18 report on Happening Now, Cameron aired a portion of a new Cuccinelli campaign ad which portrayed McAuliffe as a “corrupt insider” by attempting to link him to Joseph Caramadre, a Rhode Island businessman who recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Cameron claimed that Cuccinelli has “been battling really hard” and “making sure that voters get all the goriest details about scandals that are currently under investigation related to this Democratic nominee.”

Cameron did not provide any context for the ad, failing to point out that McAuliffe was only one of dozens of passive investors with Caramadre -- a group that includes a police chief, a state supreme court justice, and a Catholic priest. In fact, according to the Associated Press, “There is no allegation of wrongdoing by McAuliffe or that he or other investors knew of efforts to defraud the terminally ill.”

Cuccinelli has faced his own questions regarding the ethicality of his conduct while Virginia Attorney General, something Cameron omitted.

Cameron would do well to turn a critical eye toward Cuccinelli's attacks on McAuliffe. A Washington Post fact check of a previous Cuccinelli ad found, “From what is publicly known, there are no federal inquiries directly into McAuliffe's conduct. It would be a stretch to say otherwise.” 

Photo Credit: Tyler Hansen.