The National Rifle Association’s political arm debuted a new TV ad Wednesday that depicts Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as a wealthy and powerful elite who is protected by armed guards while opposing gun rights for average Americans.
“An out of touch hypocrite — she’ll leave you defenseless,” says the male narrator in the ad.
The 30-second spot titled “Defenseless” shows a woman resembling Mrs. Clinton being whisked in a black SUV to a private jet, where machine-gun toting guards stand watch her as she crosses the tarmac.
“She’s one of the wealthiest women in politics. Combined income: 30 million dollars,” says the narrator. “Tours the world on private jets. Protected by armed guards for 30 years. But she doesn’t believe in your right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.”
As she is served by a flight attendant, Mrs. Clinton is seen on a TV screen mounted in the cabin.
“I fully appreciate how hard life is for so many Americans today,” Mrs. Clinton says in the video clip from a TV news interview.
The NRA, which has endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump, said it bought $3 million of airtime for the ad on cable channels nationwide and local TV in battleground states Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada and North Carolina.
Mr. Trump made his support of the Second Amendment a top issue of his campaign. He has accused Mrs. Clinton of wanting to abolish gun rights, a charge she denies.
He encountered fierce criticism Tuesday after saying “Second Amendment people” could stop Mrs. Clinton, if elected, from appointing anti-gun Supreme Court justices.
The Clinton campaign and others interpreted the remark as sanctioning violence. Mr. Trump said that he was referring to political pressure.
“Hillary Clinton has supported the concept of confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens. Despite what she says to try and get elected, she would stack the Supreme Court with anti-gun justices who would overturn our fundamental right of self-protection. So it is not an understatement to say that the future of American freedom is at stake in November,” said Chris W. Cox, chairman of NRA’s Political Victory Fund, the committee responsible for the ad.
“The choice to own a firearm doesn’t belong to the government — it is an individual freedom,” he said. “So it is too important to be subject to one set of rules for political elites like Hillary Clinton, and a different set for the rest of us.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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