NRA ad draws criticism from Nutter and Runyan
WASHINGTON - Mayor Nutter called a National Rifle Association Web video referencing President Obama's daughters "reprehensible, disgusting, and outside the bounds of human dignity" Wednesday, and he was joined by someone the NRA supports.
Rep. Jon Runyan, a South Jersey Republican who has been backed by the gun-rights group, also criticized the ad.
"What this discussion does not need is what we saw today from the NRA," Runyan said in a statement. "Their ad referencing President Obama's children was at the very least inappropriate and diverts the discussion away from the important issues."
The NRA donated $5,000 to Runyan's 2012 reelection drive, and its lobbying arm spent about $13,000 on his behalf.
The video, posted on the NRA website, called Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for allowing armed protection for his daughters at school while voicing skepticism about the group's call for putting armed guards in every school.
"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" the narrator of the video asks. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?"
The NRA said the spot was not about Obama's two daughters.
"If anyone thinks we're talking specifically about someone's children, they're missing the point completely," spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told USA Today. "This isn't an issue about comparing the president's kids. This is an issue about school safety and protecting all our children. . . ."
Nutter joined a chorus of critics ripping the ad. "[W]e must have the sense to not attack the families and children of those of us engaged in public service," he said Wednesday at a hearing hosted by House Democrats. "The NRA has struck an incredible new low in public discourse."
Contact Jonathan Tamari at jtamari@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @JonathanTamari. Read his blog at www.philly.com/CapitolInq.
