The campaign team for U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley has sent a legal demand to a California television station requesting the withdrawal of an opposition advertisement that attempts to link him politically to President Donald Trump.
The spot, called “Duck,” is produced by 314 Action Fund, a national pro-science political action committee (PAC) that is backing former Democratic State Senator Richard Pan in California’s 6th Congressional District race.
The ad compares Kiley to a duck while referencing Trump’s 2022 endorsement of Kiley and Trump’s past description of him as a “MAGA champion.”
“If it walks like a duck, it’s a duck,” the advertisement says as video of a duck appears on screen. “Trump called Kevin Kiley a MAGA champion. Now Kiley is pretending he’s independent, but he’s still Trump’s MAGA champion.”
The spot has aired at least once on KXTV (Channel 10, ABC), a TEGNA-owned station that broadcasts from Sacramento and whose signal reaches the area that Kiley represents in Congress.
Kiley’s campaign officials say the ad falsely suggests Trump endorsed him in the current race for a Congressional seat. A cease-and-desist letter sent to the station this week was largely concentrated on a portion of the spot that used prior news footage from KCRA-TV (Channel 3, NBC) in Sacramento and other outlets, including one where an anchor says that “President Donald Trump has endorsed Kiley in this race.”
The campaign says the statement is misleading because Trump’s endorsement was from Kiley’s 2022 campaign, not the current race against Pan. The campaign is demanding that KXTV stop airing the advertisement in its current form and says it is considering legal action if the station does not act.
A spokesperson for TEGNA has not yet returned a request for comment from The Desk, and it isn’t clear if the station will stop airing the advertisement.
The ad is part of a broader effort by Pan and outside groups supporting him to criticize Kiley’s political history. Kiley previously served in the California Legislature as a Republican and was elected to Congress with Trump’s endorsement in 2022. He changed his registration from Republican to no party preference in March, citing frustration with partisanship.
Kiley has pointed to recent breaks with Republican leadership as evidence of his independence, including votes on immigration enforcement funding and aid to Ukraine. He also said this week that he would no longer caucus with the Republican Party if he wins in November.
TEGNA is a subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group; the broadcaster is operated separate from its parent company while a federal antitrust lawsuit over Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA continues in court. California is one of several states participating in the lawsuit.
