A Georgia Republican gubernatorial hopeful is standing by his campaign ad in which he points a shotgun at a young man who wants to date his daughter.
“Liberals in the media are losing their minds off a fake controversy,” Brian Kemp tweeted Wednesday. “The real problem they have is that I’m an unapologetic conservative & proud defender of the 2nd Amendment. I won’t back down, cave in, or compromise my values.”
Kemp, who is the current Georgia secretary of state, is one of several Republicans running to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Nathan Deal.
In the political ad, Kemp is deadpanned, polishing a shotgun while seated next to a young man.
“I’m Brian Kemp. This is Jake, a young man interested in one of my daughters,” says Kemp, with handguns displayed on his right and what appeared to be two assault-style rifles in the backdrop.
Jake goes on to list the reasons Kemp is running for governor – cap government spending, “take a chainsaw” to regulations, and make his state “No. 1 for small businesses.”
Kemp, who is the father to three girls, later asks Jake, “And two things if you’re going to date one of my daughters?”
“Respect,” and “a healthy appreciation for the Second Amendment, sir,” Jake answers.
“We’re going to get along just fine,” Kemp says while closing the gun.
Kemp’s ad received some criticism from Georgians as a local Atlanta station said it received complaints to pull the ad.
“I’m conservative, folks. Get over it!” Kemp tweeted on Tuesday.
The ad, which was first released Friday, also drew criticism from beyond Georgia’s state lines.
“In an ad showcasing his qualifications to serve as Georgia’s Governor, Brian Kemp threaten to shoot a teenage boy if he tries to have sex with his daughters. This recurring and uniquely American ‘joke’ is tiresome,” Shannon Watts, a founder of the gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action, wrote on Twitter Saturday.
Taking a page from President Donald Trump’s playbook, Kemp is running on a “Georgia first” platform. He also supports defunding sanctuary cities and building a border wall.
Georgia’s general primary for governor is May 22.