Leaked 2008 Romney Ad Bashes Huckabee for Pardoning Serial Rapist

A “brutal” Mitt Romney ad that accused Mike Huckabee of pardoning a serial rapist convicted of murder, but was never aired during the 2008 election cycle, emerged today on the Internet.

The ad focused on Huckabee’s pardons as the Governor of Arkansas — specifically, his 1999 pardon of Wayne DuMond, a serial rapist who was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison for rape and the murder of a 39-year-old woman. Documents leaked back in 2007 revealed that Huckabee knew about Wayne’s history of serial rape, but released DuMond anyway thanks to a right-wing evangelical campaign calling for his release.

BuzzFeed got their hands on the video, reporting that the ad was eventually replaced by a tamer one one that accused Huckabee of being “soft on crime.” According to BuzzFeed, Romney made the decision to spike the ad, believing it would make him look “desperate”, despite the fact that the allegations were already circulating in the news.

Watch it over at BuzzFeed.

[Image via screenshot]

— —
>> Follow Tina Nguyen (@Tina_Nguyen) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!