Kentucky Democrat says she's pulling ads from Sinclair station, calls for boycott

Amy McGrath, a retired Marine running in a tough primary to challenge Republican US Rep. Andy Barr, said she had instructed her campaign team "to cease and pull all campaign advertising on WDKY-TV (Channel 56), the Sinclair-owned television station in our congressional district, as soon as possible."

McGrath cited a viral video from Deadspin that splices together clips of local news anchors at Sinclair-owned stations all reading from the same script decrying "fake stories" in the press and online.

McGrath said the script "eerily mimics the propaganda efforts that authoritarian regimes often use to control the media in their own country" and called on all Democratic candidates in the country to join her in a boycott of Sinclair.

"I call on all Democratic candidates across the country to take a firm stand against this frightening development to our Democracy and refuse to buy advertising time on all Sinclair-owned television stations," McGrath said in a statement.

Sinclair has defended its script as a "corporate news journalistic responsibility promotional campaign."

Most of Sinclair's stations are CNN affiliates -- meaning CNN shares content and resources with them and vice versa.

CNN has reached out to the campaign of McGrath's Democratic opponent, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, about the boycott.