Republicans tout Clinton tie to Epstein as he fundraises for McAuliffe

Virginia Republicans are targeting former Gov. Terry McAuliffe as he campaigns to lead the state again, highlighting ties between Jeffrey Epstein and former President Bill Clinton, who was slated to attend a fundraising event as the headline guest for McAuliffe on Thursday.

McAuliffe is running against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin, a businessman.

In a new ad from the state Republican Party, titled 'Terry McAuliffe's Time is Up,' Clinton's fundraising efforts on behalf of McAuliffe are noted as video shows the former governor praising the Clintons. "I go back with President Clinton and Hillary 'til 1980," McAuliffe said in a clip featured in the two-minute ad. "We've vacationed together for years… we're best friends."

The ad flips back and forth between news segments discussing Clinton's actions, as well as Epstein's. It also highlights numerous occasions where McAuliffe praises Clinton as "a great president" who he still talks to "a couple of times a week."

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Of the news clips featured in the ad, several involve Clinton's position during the MeToo movement and the downfall of Epstein, who was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and later died of apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail only weeks later.

One clip featured in the ad notes Epstein's habit of "flying very powerful people to an island to have sex with underage women." 

"I've traveled with Bill Clinton all over the globe," McAuliffe said, as featured in the ad. The ad concludes with a message to viewers: "This November tell Terry time's up."

McAuliffe, a longtime friend of the Clintons, served as co-chair of Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign.

Doug Band, who served as Clinton's right-hand man for years after he left the White House, said last year that Clinton visited Little St. James, the Caribbean island where Epstein allegedly trafficked underage victims.

Epstein, along with his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell were also guests of Clinton during his time at the White House in 1993, according to photos which surfaced earlier this year.

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According to Syracuse.com, which obtained an invitation to the event, tickets to the planned private McAuliffe fundraising event featuring Clinton ranged "from $1,000 per person to $50,000 for a co-host and $100,000 for a host."

Fox News reached out to the McAuliffe and Youngkin campaigns but did not receive an immediate response.

Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this article.