WASHINGTON — The gun-control fight just got personal.
The National Rifle Association launched a stinging new ad that called President Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for opposing armed school guards for everyday Americans while his daughters enjoy Secret Service protection at their swanky private school.
The White House called the attack a low blow that hit too close to home, complaining that dragging Obama’s children into the political fray was both “repugnant and cowardly.”
The NRA posted the brazen attack ad just hours before Obama unveiled an ambitious package of tough new firearms laws, which include an assault-weapon ban and other measures that the gun-rights organization has vowed to help defeat in Congress.
The fast-paced Web video, also shown on the Sportsman Channel, opens with a baritone narrator asking, “Are the president’s kids more important than yours?”
It continues: “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools, when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?”
“Mr. Obama demands that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. But he is just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security,” it says. “Protection for their kids and gun-free zones for ours.”
The ad does not mention by name Obama’s daughters, Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, who attend an exclusive private school in Washington and receive around-the-clock Secret Service protection.
In addition to the Secret Service detail for Obama’s daughters, the exclusive Sidwell Friends School they attend in DC also has a staff of 11 security officers.
Still, White House spokesman Jay Carney demanded that any reference to Obama’s family should be off limits.
“Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight,” he said. “But to go so far as to make the safety of the president’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.”
Former White House press secretary and Obama adviser Robert Gibbs slammed the ad on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
“I mean, it is disgusting on many levels,” Gibbs said. “It’s also just stupid.”
Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile tweeted that the ad was “tasteless, mean spirited and totally out of bounds.”
The NRA balked at the criticism, insisting the ad is about bigger issues.
“Whoever thinks the ad is about President Obama’s daughters are missing the point completely, or they’re trying to change the subject,” NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told NBC News. “This ad is about keeping our children safe.”
The organization got some cover from Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. He said the ad was “spot on.”
“It points to the hypocrisy that we see so much from our ruling class,” he said on Fox News. “This is a serious confrontation. The president seems to be convinced that the American people don’t need to be able to protect themselves.”
The NRA and Obama have been going after each other’s throats since the president embarked on an aggressive gun-control push in response to the mass murder of children Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
A week after the Newtown massacre, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre suggested that the only way to make children safer was to deploy armed guards at every school.
Obama said he was “skeptical” of the proposal. He instead opted for sweeping gun-control laws.
LaPierre said Obama had picked “the fight of the century” over gun laws.
Obama this week accused the gun lobby of “ginning up fear on the part of gun owners that somehow the federal government’s about to take all your guns away. … It obviously is good for business.”
As the president yesterday unveiled the package of gun-control proposals, he implored voters to pressure Congress members to break with the NRA.
“Ask them what’s more important — doing whatever it takes to get an A grade from the gun lobby that funds their campaigns, or giving parents some peace of mind when they drop their child off for first grade?” Obama said.