Conservative Group Apologizes for Post-Aurora Photo in Campaign Ad
On Wednesday, the conservative group Americans for Prosperity was forced to apologize and retract a TV ad in Colorado that used a photograph of a grim-faced Democratic Sen. Mark Udall standing alongside a tense President Obama. It’s a common trope this election season, as Republicans and their allies do all they can to yoke Democratic hopefuls to a president of middling popularity.
The spot blamed Udall for cancellation of nearly 335,000 health insurance policies in Colorado under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the blame-laying being the second element in the GOP’ election season one-two punch.
The problem is the photograph was taken two days after the July 2012 mass shootings at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, when Udall and Obama visited a hospital to console the injured and families of the victims. Gov. John Hickenlooper, who was also on the scene, was cropped out of the advertisement.
Several families of the victims were quick to condemn the use of the photo, calling it “an utter disgrace.”
“To insinuate the somber expressions were for anything other than their compassionate response to our heartbreak is beyond unconscionable,” the families said in a written statement.
More: Conservative Group Apologizes for Post-Aurora Photo in Campaign Ad