NRA launches ad blitz focused on women
The National Rifle Association launched its biggest pro-Trump ad buy yet on Wednesday: a $6.5 million television spot geared toward young people and, specifically, women — two major voting blocs who’ve shown little support for the Republican presidential nominee.
In the ad, 26-year-old Kristi McMains talks about how she used the pistol she carries in her purse to defend herself from a man who attacked her with a knife in a parking garage this past January.
“I fight back,” says McMains, an Indianapolis lawyer, looking directly at the camera. “That’s why I’m still here.”
Like the NRA’s previous 2016 ads, the newest spot similarly goes after Democrat Hillary Clinton’s support for gun restrictions, urging voters to not “let politicians take away your right to own a gun.”
But it also seems like an attempt to counter a key message promoted by the Clinton campaign — that a Trump presidency would be dangerous for women.
One of Clinton’s most recent ads showed a variety of young women and girls looking at themselves in the mirror over audio of Trump making lewd comments about women’s physical appearances.
During a tense back-and-forth about abortion during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Democratic nominee Tim Kaine highlighted Trump’s earlier comment that women who seek abortion services should receive “some form of punishment.” Facing fierce backlash, Trump subsequently walked back the comment.
“Why doesn’t Donald Trump trust women to make this choice for themselves?” Kaine asked.
In the new NRA ad, McMains says that “every woman has a right to defend herself with a gun if she chooses. Hillary Clinton disagrees with that.”
Starting Wednesday, the spot will air on national cable as well as broadcast networks in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio.
