Campaign

New Bush ad targets Clinton, Planned Parenthood

by Jonathan Easley - 08/05/15 8:54 PM ET

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign launched a round of digital ads Wednesday targeting Hillary Clinton and Planned Parenthood.

The 2016 Republican presidential candidate is pushing Facebook ads in Iowa and South Carolina, two critical early-voting states, highlighting an exchange Bush and Clinton had a day earlier over taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.

“Hillary is attacking me for opposing taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood,” the ad states. “Help us fight back.”

When viewers click on the banner, they’re redirected to a page where they can enter their contact information below a Wall Street Journal headline of “Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton Spar Over Planned Parenthood” and this tweet:

.@HillaryClinton what’s absolutely, unequivocally wrong is giving taxpayer $ to an org whose practices show no regard for lives of unborn

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) August 4, 2015

{mosads}The campaign declined to say how much money is behind the ads.

Bush is looking to turn the tables on a stumble from a day earlier on the campaign trail.

Speaking to the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn., Bush argued the next president needs cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood, further saying, “I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues.”

Bush said he was referring to the $500 million Planned Parenthood gets annually from the federal government, much of it through reimbursements from federal programs like Medicaid.

The Bush campaign quickly issued a statement saying he “misspoke,” but not before Democrats, including Clinton, seized on the remarks.

.@JebBush: You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong. https://t.co/a6O17dlEh4

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 4, 2015

Senate Republicans fast-tracked a bill to defund Planned Parenthood following a series of undercover videos showing officials at the group discussing the cost of fetal tissue from abortions.

This week, the measure fell short of the 60 votes it needed to move forward, but with more videos scheduled for release, the issue will likely continue to play a major role in presidential politics.

Clinton and most Democrats have defended Planned Parenthood, while the Republican presidential contenders are unanimous in their calls to cut off federal funding for the group.

Tags Hillary Clinton Jeb Bush