New Mexico’s underdog Republican Senate nominee, Allen Weh, released a campaign ad titled “Restore Leadership” on Monday night that juxtaposes footage showing what a scary place the world has become with images of President Obama golfing, cracking jokes, and clearing brush on his ranch in Texas (or something like that). But a dubious complaint about Obama’s vacation time isn’t the issue. CNN quickly noticed that right after the shot of Weh’s opponent, Democratic Senator Tom Udall, a still image of journalist James Foley’s masked, knife-wielding executioner flashes on the screen for several seconds.
The Udall campaign declared that featuring a “killer’s horrific image for personal gain in a campaign ad is reprehensible and appalling,” but Weh doesn’t think using a clip from the video Foley’s family asked people to stop circulating is a big deal. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. In fact, I think it serves the greater good,” Weh told KRQE News 13. He noted that the photo shows “a jihadist terrorist,” not Foley, saying, “People need to be reminded of what the threat is.”
