In case you missed it, a new report from HuffPost found yet another brazen display of flip-flopping and “double-dipping on partisan issues” by Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. The report found that Tim Sheehy “received a $210,000 grant from Democrats’ American Rescue Plan — a federal COVID-19 relief package that Sheehy has repeatedly condemned on the campaign trail.”
And this isn’t the first time Tim Sheehy has been two-faced on an issue. As HuffPost noted, “Sheehy is benefitting from federal aid that he now argues is driving inflation is just the latest example of him and his company double-dipping on partisan issues.” Other examples include:
-
Sheehy has flip-flopped on climate change, now calling it a “climate cult” while his business is touting itself as “fighting on the front lines of climate change.”
-
Sheehy deleted mentions of climate change and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) from his company’s website in the lead-up to the launch of his Senate campaign.
-
Sheehy has “shied away” from past support of Ukraine. Before his launch, Sheehy called for “soldiers, planes, bombs, and bullets” to help Ukraine but now he says the U.S. should end its involvement.
Take a look at key points from the report below.
HuffPost: Montana GOP Candidate Took The ‘Government Fiat’ Money That He Campaigns Against
By Chris D’Angelo | October 26, 2023
Key Points:
-
Tim Sheehy, the Montana businessman who is vying to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, received a $210,000 grant from Democrats’ American Rescue Plan — a federal COVID-19 relief package that Sheehy has repeatedly condemned on the campaign trail.
-
Sheehy is the founder of Bridger Aerospace, a Bozeman-based aerial firefighting company that relies almost entirely on federal contracts. In March 2022, Bridger was awarded $210,000 from the American Rescue Plan’s Workforce Training Grant Program, which provides funding to businesses to train employees.
-
The grant, part of $1.5 billion in American Rescue Plan funding allocated to Montana, has not been previously reported.
-
Since launching his Senate bid in June, Sheehy has repeatedly decried what he views as wasteful spending by the Biden administration, including the $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package.
-
That Sheehy is benefitting from federal aid that he now argues is driving inflation is just the latest example of him and his company double-dipping on partisan issues.
-
As HuffPost previously reported, Bridger has repeatedly promoted itself as a leader in the fight against climate change and planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, securing tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts along the way. Meanwhile, Sheehy has toed the Republican party line on climate, railing against the so-called “climate cult,” “radical environmentalists” and the “disastrous socialist Green New Deal.”
-
He also consistently slams the federal government, his company’s biggest client. As HuffPost reported, Bridger reported revenue of more than $46 million last year — 96% of which came from federal contracts. That same year, Sheehy earned nearly $5 million in salary and bonuses as the company’s CEO, and his stock in the company is valued at more than $50 million.
-
In an interview with Fox Business in June, the GOP hopeful said “he’s seen the power of the free market” and that Montanans “don’t want more government in their lives, whether it’s state government or federal government.”
-
“They want to be left alone to live their lives,” Sheehy said. “The federal government needs to stay in its lane.” He added that government COVID-19 stimulus policies “have really impacted the bedrock of Montana and people are frustrated.”
-
But in Sheehy’s case, not frustrated enough to not apply for and receive stimulus money.
Published: Oct 27, 2023 | Last Modified: Nov 1, 2023