ABC News Exclusive: The RNC Benghazi Attack Ad that Never Ran - East Idaho News
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ABC News Exclusive: The RNC Benghazi Attack Ad that Never Ran

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GETTY W 091412 USConsulateLibya?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1368132235514GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/GettyImages(WASHINGTON) — It was the Benghazi attack ad the Republican National Committee created but never aired.

ABC News has obtained an ad the RNC made last fall and approved to air in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.  The ad begins with a replay of Hillary Clinton’s famous “3 a.m. phone call” commercial from the 2008 campaign and then cuts to video of the burning U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Over the images of the attack — in which four Americans were killed — words appear on the screen:

“The Call Came…On September 12, 2012.”  As the screen goes black, the words continue: “Security Requests Denied. Four Americans Dead. And an Administration whose story is still changing. The Call Came.”

The video of the Benghazi attack used in the ad includes the sound of gunfire and what appear to be voices of people speaking a foreign language as flames engulf the consulate.

A source familiar with the creation of the ad says the RNC leadership approved the ad but it was scrapped at the last minute because of objections from the Romney campaign, which was concerned the ad would distract from Romney’s efforts to focus on the economy.

While the ad borrows from Hillary Clinton’s efforts to raise questions in 2008 about Barack Obama’s ability to lead the country through a crisis, Republicans are now pointing to the Benghazi attack and the way it was handled to raise questions about the leadership of Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time of the attack.

Democrats will likely point to the unaired commercial as evidence that Republicans are raising concerns about the Benghazi attack to score political points.

 

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