Attorneys for President Barack Obama are sending a cease-and-desist letter demanding that South Carolina broadcast stations stop airing a misleading ad from a pro-Donald Trump political action committee that makes it sound like Obama is criticizing his former vice president, Joe Biden.
The ad is part of $250,000 in spending by The Committee to Defend the President. It misuses a snippet from an audio version of Obama’s book “Dreams from My Father” to make it sound as though Obama is criticizing Biden’s support of the black community. He’s actually recalling complaints he’s heard about politicians generally.
“This despicable ad is straight out of the Republican disinformation playbook, and it’s clearly designed to suppress turnout among minority voters in South Carolina by taking President Obama’s voice out of context and twisting his words to mislead viewers,” said Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill in a statement.
The statement said Obama’s office is asking TV stations to pull the ad “and stop playing into the hands of bad actors who seek to sow division and confusion among the electorate.”
The Committee to Defend the President also ran anti-Biden ads in Nevada aimed at the state’s Hispanic population. Biden placed second in Nevada, well behind front-runner Bernie Sanders. Biden is depending heavily on black voters to give him his first win of the 2020 nominating fight to blunt Sanders’ momentum ahead of Super Tuesday.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.