The following news release is from the Beth Macy for Congress campaign.

ROANOKE — On Saturday, Oct. 10, Democratic candidate Beth Macy talked to voters from the top to the bottom of Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, from Front Royal to Roanoke – 174 miles. 

Meanwhile, Ben Cline, the Republican incumbent, was more than 2,000 miles away dining with lobbyists from Google and Nvidia at an $800-a-night winery resort in Napa Valley. 

“Congress is on recess, a time when Ben COULD be talking to his constituents about what he’s going to do to bring down gas prices, end the war in Iran, release the Epstein files, regulate a tech world gone out of control. 

“Instead, he’s on a Cali junket with the people bringing you unregulated data centers and AI. Can you believe it?” Macy said.

Cline attended a weekend gathering organized by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., at The Estate Yountville. Other scheduled attendees at the Scalise Leadership Fund event were U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, and Joe Strada, a MAGA multimillionaire running for Florida House 11. 

Invited  industry representatives included UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health and Storm Services LLC. Texas Monthly reported the Texas Military Department “paid other contractors, like Storm Services LLC, over $750 million to build and maintain temporary based camps” for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border surge, called Operation Lone Star. The ACLU of Texas says the state-run immigration enforcement program is unconstitutional and polluted by racial profiling.

“Who does Ben Cline keep company with? Is he really against data centers, or does this junket show he’s all about staying in perfect step with Trump’s illegal and immoral actions against Americans?”

The Teamsters Union reports:

Over 400 workers at the Molson Coors facility in the Shenandoah Valley have voted to join Teamsters Local 29. The packaging, warehouse, brewing, interplant distribution, utilities, and maintenance workers organized for increased wages, improved benefits, and a voice on the job.

“These workers remained determined and refused to let management’s union-busting tactics stand in the way of organizing,” said Jeff Padellaro, Director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference. “We are proud to welcome these new members and we are ready to support them as they prepare to negotiate a fair first contract.”

“This vote is a proud moment for the workers at Molson Coors and the beginning of a positive new chapter,” said Jeff Vaughan, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 29. “The members voted for structure, clear standards, and a seat at the table. Our goal is to negotiate a comprehensive contract that delivers for these members and their families.”

The workers overcame an aggressive union-busting campaign by Molson Coors. The company spread false information regarding status quo bargaining and purposefully conflated dues and DRIVE contributions in an effort to discourage workers from unionizing. Despite the campaign, workers remained united and voted to join the Teamsters.

Although Congressman Cline has not publicly reacted to the union victory at the Elkton facility, it’s hard to imagine him celebrating it– especially considering this:

During his career in the Virginia House of Delegates and the US Congress, Cline has done everything he could to make it harder for workers to unionize.

Cline Watch has documented the congressman’s support for anti-union right-to-work-for-less laws in Virginia and elsewhere, and his opposition to the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would remove some of the barriers that make union organizing so difficult– even when a clear majority of workers want to join.

In June Cline voted NO on the Faster Labor Contracts Act, which would prevent employers whose workers have unionized from endless delays in negotiating a first agreement.

The Molson Coors workers in Elkton have sent a powerful message that most of the people Cline represents in Congress don’t hate unions as much as he and other Republican politicians think they should.

As Congressman Cline makes some pathetic and half-hearted efforts to distance himself from Donald Trump in the final weeks of the 2026 election, let’s revisit the September 14 hearing of the House Rules Committee, where Cline and Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin testified as members of the House Judiciary Committee.

As reported at Cline Watch, Congressman Joe Neguse took the opportunity to expose Cline’s and the Republicans’ hypocrisy for their support of “anti-fraud” legislation

At the same hearing Cline underwent another humiliating round of questioning from Congressman Jim McGovern about Trump’s ridiculous plan to send a $5,000 check to every American adult– if Republicans keep control of Congress in the election.

As PBS reported:

Asked about how the government would pay for the dividend checks, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that some of the money would come from tariff revenue.

Here’s what to know about the legal and economic barriers facing Trump’s promise.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are about 245 million U.S. citizen adults. Giving each of them a $5,000 check would cost about $1.2 trillion.

…..

Trump promised to give Americans $2,000 tariff dividend checks last November. Checks never went out.

The Tax Foundation, at the time, published a report saying U.S. tariff revenue would not be able to cover the $280- to $607 billion cost of the dividend checks. The foundation estimated that Trump’s tariffs would generate about $158 billion in revenue in 2025 and $208 billion in 2026.

The analysis was made before the Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s tariffs in February.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Trump imposed a global 10% tariff.

The cost of the $5,000 checks would spend “almost all the revenue that the new tariffs are projected to bring in *over a decade*,” Erica York, senior economist at the Tax Foundation wrote Wednesday in a post on X after Trump’s latest announcement.

In other words, it’s not going to happen, even if the GOP somehow does manage to keep their majorities in the House and Senate.

Asked– yes or no– if he supported the plan, Cline dodged and weaved as we’ve seen him do whenever he is confronted with uncomfortable questions. And he managed to blame current inflation on the Biden administration, which left office almost two years ago.

It’s another reminder of why he continues to dodge genuine debates with his Democratic opponent Beth Macy.

The questioning is worth watching in its entirety, including the final words from Congressman McGovern:

This new promise to hand out $5,000 checks to every American, I think we all know is never gonna happen, just like some of his other promises. And I think it’s cruel. I think it’s really cruel. People are struggling, and I bet some families may hear the president promise them $5,000 and then actually plan around that money because they’d like to think the president is actually speaking the truth. You know, maybe they’re now planning to get that medical procedure that they otherwise could not afford or, or, or believe they will finally be able to pay off their credit card and have enough, uh, food to feed their family next month. It is wrong to make promises like that, and when it’s conditioned on the outcome of an election, I think it is outrageous and I think it is corrupt.

It’s a sign of the political times.

In August Congressman Cline tried to suggest that he differed with President Trump on tariffs– even though he had earlier praised some of Trump’s trade deals involving increased tariffs. He voted NO in Congress on a resolution to terminate tariffs on Canada. And he voted YES on a measure to cede power over tariffs to Trump.

On Monday Cline denied a charge by his Democratic opponent Beth Macy that he is too closely aligned with Trump.

Cline rejected that characterization, saying his record shows he is willing to disagree with the president when he believes it is in the best interest of the district.

“Well, that’s ridiculous,” Cline said. “Just look at the issue of data centers. I don’t support data centers for the 6th District, and that is in contrast to the president’s position.”

Cline said he will continue to prioritize the interests of residents in the district regardless of whether his positions align with the president.

But the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that Cline proudly voted for last year provides huge tax breaks for the construction of data centers.

When it comes to Cline’s actual voting record in Congress, I can find almost no evidence that Cline has ever dared to defy Trump. The most disgraceful example of this occurred on January 6, 2021, when– after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol– Cline voted to reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential elections in Arizona and Pennsylvania, both of which Joe Biden won. The motions to reject were overwhelmingly defeated, including by some Republicans with more backbone than Cline has ever displayed.

I say almost no evidence because there was one instance where Cline voted NO on a bill that Trump supported. Unfortunately it was a bill to maintain and improve national parks– one of the very few good bills that Trump supported and signed.

Today, September 25, marks the one-year anniversary of Congressman Cline’s last (albeit limited) town hall meeting in the Sixth District, at the Rockbridge County Courthouse in Lexington.

(The poorly recorded video of the event, released by Cline, has been removed.)

And it’s been nearly four months since Cline told 29News that he is “planning to hold another town hall in all 22 localities” in the Sixth District.

He has yet to hold or schedule even one.

But now Cline has a chance to face his constituents at least once before the last day of the election in November.

What say you, Congressman?

If you’ve been following Cline Watch for a while, you’ll recall Congressman Cline’s frantic efforts to link then-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter to corruption.

Cline’s “brave whistleblower” charged with being an unregistered Chinese agent – Cline Watch

Cline whiffs again – Cline Watch

Is this the end of Cline’s “Biden corruption” crusade? (Hint: probably not) – Cline Watch

The efforts were based on allegations from highly dubious sources and on the unremarkable fact that Hunter Biden repaid his father $4,140 for purchase of a truck.

Cline referred several times to the “Biden Crime Family.” In September 2023, based on dodgy evidence, Cline backed an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

As I wrote in February 2024:

Rather than working on the everyday needs of his constituents– for good-paying jobs, quality health care, affordable housing and secure retirements– Congressman Cline has devoted an awful lot of his time and effort over the past year to a partisan effort to uncover corrupt connections between President Biden and his family.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Cline has been a loyal accomplice of chairman Jim Jordan in his attempt to find Biden-related criminality.

(Hunter Biden was convicted on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax-related charges and was pardoned by President Biden before he left office. He was never charged in connection with the corruption that Cline accused him of.)

In a recent interview on WFIR radio, Cline said:

I’m optimistic, you know, that [Republicans are] going to keep the majority [in Congress]. But I am concerned because the Democrats have made it very clear that they’re going to go after the president. They’re going to try and impeach him. We’re going to be faced with these hearings, which are distraction from the very kitchen table issues that you and I both agree that the people want addressed. So. We want to address them. Democrats want to put on an impeachment show again, and that’s why I’m confident that we’re going to keep the House in November.

In other words, Cline is worried about distractions from the same issues that he was distracted from during the Biden presidency.

Which brings us to our current president Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr.

While there was never any conclusive evidence of Hunter Biden’s corruption, the recent reports about an after-party for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding are a flashing red light that even one of Cline’s Republican colleagues can’t ignore.

Sen. John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, said a wedding after-party for President Donald Trump’s son that was financed by a Russian oligarch was “corruption.”

“It just stinks,” Curtis said in a social media video posted late Friday. “It’s corruption. I don’t like it.”

ProPublica reported last week that Umar Kremlev, an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, secretly paid for an after-party in the Bahamas where Donald Trump, Jr. was celebrating his May wedding.

…..

…The same day that Curtis released his video, President Donald Trump defended the party and said his son had paid Kremlev back.

Of course there would have been no reimbursement had not ProPublica reported the news.

As far as I can tell, Cline has had nothing to say publicly about all this or about any of the Trump family’s vast and open corruption. You’d almost think he was a political hack afraid to antagonize the Trumps as he tries to hold onto his seat in Congress.

Congressman Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s Second District, is everything that Ben Cline isn’t. I mean that as a compliment to Neguse.

At a January hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, on which both congressmen serve, Neguse challenged Cline’s foolish questioning of former special counsel Jack Smith, rightly calling it “theater.”

Then on September 14, Cline testified before the House Rules Committee in favor of Republican-backed “anti-fraud” legislation.

Cline faced questioning from none other than Congressman Neguse, who used the opportunity to expose Cline’s and the Republicans’ hypocrisy. It was the kind of questioning that Cline goes out of his way to dodge when he’s in the Sixth District.

Congressman Cline posted this lie on Facebook today.

Cline’s Democratic opponent Beth Macy had already made it clear that she had a previously scheduled event at the same time.

Commenters to Cline’s deceitful post were quick to post proof that– despite Cline’s assertion– the Salem Rotary Club event was never supposed to be a “debate.”

Beth Macy continues her effort to schedule genuine debates with Cline– in which each candidate answers questions on a series of issues and is in turn given a chance to respond to those answers. Ben Cline continues to evade genuine debates by trying to redefine the meaning of “debate.”

Congressman Cline: You aren’t fooling anyone except those who want to be fooled.

Congressman Cline today released his new campaign video.

He managed to pack a lot of nonsense into 30 seconds– he mixes up which side has common sense and which side is crazy– but I want to focus on one thing.

“The other side wants to make you use solar panels and windmills. But I’m fighting to lower your cost at the gas pump.”

The average gasoline price in the US was $3.08 a gallon when Donald Trump became president in January 2025. Today it’s at least $4.15. And this video was released on the same day that the cost of Brent crude again topped $100 a barrel— guaranteeing another price spike.

Bottom line: Whatever Cline is doing to fight for lower prices at the pump isn’t working. This may have something to do with Donald Trump’s misbegotten war in Iran and the resulting disruption to oil supplies– which Cline continues to support.

And Cline reminded us again of his contempt for solar and wind energy. As I noted in February:

Although there is not a single oil well, natural gas well or coal mine in all of Cline’s Sixth District, there are at least 18 companies providing solar supply and installation.

Does he know? Does he care?

It’s now been three full months since Congressman Cline told Kate Nuechterlein of 29News that he is “planning to hold another town hall in all 22 localities” in the Sixth District.

Cline, who has also faced criticism from constituents over the lack of space in his town halls, told 29News he is planning to hold another town hall in all 22 localities.

Cline since then has not held or even scheduled a single town hall anywhere in the Sixth District. (Republican party events don’t count.) His current term in Congress ends on January 3, 2027.

And if he’s going to renege on his town hall plans, the least he could do is agree to some full-scale debates with his Democratic opponent Beth Macy.

Time’s a wastin’, Congressman.