The NRA is pushing back against critics taking issue with its new ad that references President Obama’s daughter Sasha and Malia.
In a statement released Wednesday, spokesman Andrew Arulanandam says, “Whoever thinks the ad is about President Obama’s daughters are missing the point completely or they’re trying to change the subject.”
“This ad is about keeping our children safe,” the statement continues. “And the president said he was skeptical about the NRA proposal to put policemen in all schools in this country. Yet he and his family are beneficiaries of multiple law enforcement officers surrounding them 24-hours a day.”
“That’s the real issue. Anything else is an attempted calculated distraction.”
The new ad is running on the Sportsman Channel, a cable network focused on hunting and fishing programming, and is available on the NRA’s Stand and Fight website. In it, a narrator implies that the president thinks his children are more important than the rest of the nation’s children because he has them under armed protection.
“Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the ad’s narrator asks. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?”
White House spokesperson Jay Carney tells NBC News, “Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the President’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.”
Watch the ad here:
We want to know, do you think the ad crosses the line?
Morgan Whitaker