Former First Lady Laura Bush has asked to be removed from a campaign featuring prominent bipartisan leaders speaking out in support of marriage for gay and lesbian Americans.
The campaign, released by the Respect for Marriage Coalition on Wednesday, featured prominent bipartisan leaders – including President Barack Obama, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Mrs. Bush — and includes video clips of each delivering speeches or interviews in which they indicated their support for same-sex marriage.
The ad includes a 5-second clip of Bush speaking in a 2010 CNN interview with Larry King, in which she said, “If couples are committed, they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that everyone has.”
But on Thursday, a Bush spokeswoman said the former First Lady objects to her inclusion in the campaign.
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“Mrs. Bush did not approve of her inclusion in this advertisement nor is she associated in any way with the group that made the ad,” Anne MacDonald, a spokeswoman for the former first lady, wrote in a statement Thursday. “When she became aware of the advertisement Tuesday night, we requested that the group remove her from it.”
The video is here:
The Respect for Marriage Coalition said Wednesday they would spend $1 million to air the spot nationally, as well as run print ads in major newspapers utilizing the same quotes from the Republicans who back equal marriage rights.
The first ads aired Wednesday, and the group said they would be in heavy rotation on cable news and Sunday news shows in the coming weeks.
The Respect for Marriage Coalition is co-chaired by Freedom to Marry and the Human Rights Campaign.
