Ohio GOP Sen candidate blasted for alleged scheduled meeting with anti-Trump group

A Republican Senate candidate in Ohio is taking fire from his political opponents in the GOP Senate primary over an alleged scheduled meeting with No Labels, a third-party political group known for promoting liberal positions on gun control, abortion and other issues.

The controversy started earlier this week when NBC News reporter Henry Gomez posted a screenshot of an email from No Labels promoting a Zoom call with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Tuesday night and touting him as the group’s "longtime friend" who would be a better choice as an "independent senator" then Trump endorsed businessman Bernie Moreno whom the group called a "Trump senator."

The news generated criticism on social media, including from Moreno, who argued that a true conservative would not meet with No Labels.

"No real conservative would be caught dead begging pro-amnesty and pro-gun control No Labels to fund their Senate campaign," businessman Bernie Moreno posted on X on Tuesday night. "They only support Democrats and anti-Trump RINOs like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger."

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"This is who the real Frank LaRose is."

"On any given day, it's unclear which version of Frank LaRose is actually going to show up in this primary," Chris Maloney, a strategist for LaRose’s other opponent State Sen. Matt Dolan told Fox News Digital in response to the No Labels controversy.

"Ohioans clearly see Frank for who he really is, a political chameleon willing to change his stripes and undermine the will of Republican voters for financial support."

"Fake news," LaRose campaign spokesperson Ben Kindel wrote on X in response to a report about the No Labels Zoom call. "There is no call with No Labels. Frank LaRose has nothing to do with this group and his labels are clear: Husband, Father, Green Beret, Conservative, Ohio Republican."

After that post, Gomez reported that LaRose had not ultimately taken part in the call, while an audio clip circulated on social media purportedly from the Zoom call with a voice saying that a "scheduling mishap" prevented LaRose from attending the Tuesday night Zoom.

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The issue came up during the third primary debate at Miami University on Thursday night.

"Last night at 5:30, what were you guys doing?" Moreno asked the crowd. "You know what Frank LaRose was supposed to be doing? Having a Zoom call with No Labels, which, oh my God, that’s so funny, they scheduled a Zoom fundraiser for him for No Labels, which is the most radical Planned Parenthood, amnesty, pro-open borders organization that’s too liberal for Nikki Haley. That’s the group that he was doing a fundraiser with last night."

LaRose pushed back on the criticism and called it "fake news."

"There was no call, there was no meeting," LaRose said. 

No Labels and the LaRose campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

"You get a lot of people that want to talk to Frank LaRose during the heat of the campaign…and if somebody wants to put out an email using Frank's name for a call, then that's what they did," LaRose adviser Rick Gorka told NBC News. "Somebody got over their skis, put something out they weren't supposed to. Frank was never going to be on this call. And he was on a radio interview at that time anyway."

LaRose has previously expressed support for the idea of a centrist No Labels ticket and posted on Facebook in 2019 that he has worked with them to make a "positive difference."

No Labels has previously advocated for liberal positions on gun control, amnesty, and abortion. 

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Arguing which of the candidates track records was the most conservative was a common theme in Wednesday's debate with LaRose and Moreno criticizing Dolan for lukewarm support of former President Trump and his record as a state senator, Dolan and LaRose hitting Moreno for previous statements on key issues like immigration, and Trump endorsed Moreno making the case that he is the only candidate who will carry Trump's agenda forward.

An Emerson College poll released in January showed all three candidates essentially tied in a race to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Internal polling from the Moreno campaign showed him up by 10 points, with 27% of voters still undecided with less than two weeks to go before the primary.

The Cook Political Report ranks the Ohio Senate race in November as a "toss up."