NRA Official: Ad With Obamas Daughters Was Ill Advised

Image source: NRA

The National Rifle Association is taking heat from one of its own after a senior lobbyist called the group’s controversial ad involving President Barack Obama’s daughters “ill-advised.”

“I don’t think it was particularly helpful, that ad,” Jim Baker, director of federal affairs at the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, told Reuters in an interview. “I thought it ill-advised.”

The ad, which was denounced by Republicans and Democrats alike, called Obama a “hypocrite” because his children are “protected by armed guards at their school.” It asked, “Are the president’s kids more important than yours?”

“I think the ad could have made a good point, if it talked about the need for increased school security, without making the point using the president’s children,” Baker told Reuters.

The Washington Post noted that while Obama’s daughters are under Secret Service protection wherever they go, their school does not actually have armed guards.

Baker said he wasn’t involved in creating the ad, but that he made his feelings known once it appeared.

“I got to say my piece,” he said. He wouldn’t tell Reuters what response he got, saying only, “Believe it or not, there are occasionally differences of opinion in this building.”

The NRA is taking direct aim at new gun control measures proposed by President Barack Obama and other Democrats. The Institute for Legislative Action urged supporters in an email Friday to “stop the Feinstein gun grab,” one day after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) proposed a new “assault weapons” ban.