One of the three prominent Republican figures featured in a new gay marriage advocacy campaign is requesting the creator remove her portion from the advertisement.
“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 first reported by CNN on Thursday.
“When she became aware of the advertisement Tuesday night, we requested that the group remove her from it,” MacDonald added.
On Wednesday, the Respect for Marriage Coalition unveiled their million dollar ad campaign featuring clips of interviews and speeches from Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaking in support of gay marriage. A portion of President Barack Obama’s inaugural address is also included.
The clip of the former first lady that the group included is from a 2010 CNN interview on “Larry King Live.”
“When couples are committed to each other and love each other, then they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has,” she said in the clip.
A Powell spokeswoman told CNN that he similarly was not contacted for permission to use the clip of him speaking in support of gay marriage, but that they have not asked the group to remove him .
At the time of publication Cheney’s spokeswoman had no responded to request for comment from The Daily Caller.
Update: After publication, a coalition representative explained in an emailed statement that the group will not be taking the former first lady’s clip out of the ad campaign.
“We used public comments for this ad from American leaders who have expressed support for civil marriage,” the statement read. “We appreciate Mrs. Bush’s previous comments but are sorry she didn’t want to be included in an ad. The ad launched a public education campaign that will now move to new and different voices that reflect the depth and breadth of our support.”
