By , ,
Published December 23, 2015
Florida Congressman Alan Grayson is no stranger to controversy.
In September 2009, the Democrat sparked a media firestorm when he said "Republicans want you to die quickly" during an after-hours House floor speech on health care.
Now Grayson is back in the spotlight for an ad against his Republican challenger, former state Senator Daniel Webster. In a TV spot titled, "Taliban Dan," Grayson compares Webster's Christian values to the theology of the Taliban. Specifically, the ad accuses Webster of urging wives to "submit" to their husbands.
The ad begins with an announcer saying, "Daniel Webster wants to impose his radical fundamentalism on us," then cuts to a clip of Webster saying, "She should submit to me. That's in the Bible."âª
During a Saturday interview on Fox News, Webster said the clip was taken out of context and Grayson "was playing it in a way that portrayed me in the light that is not fair."
Blaming the editing process is nothing new. But in the case of the "submit to me" clip, Webster's defense is true.
The sound bite was taken from Webster's speech at a 2009 Christian conference in Nashville, where the Republican candidate was advising husbands to pick an open-minded bible verse for their marriage.
Webster told the audience, "I have verses for my wife. Don't pick the ones that say, 'She should submit to me.' That's in the Bible, but pick the ones that you're supposed to do. So instead, 'love your wife, even as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it' as opposed to 'wives submit to your own husbands.'"
Rep. Grayson declined to appear on air, but a spokesman for the Grayson campaign provided a statement to Fox News.
"This is old news. The ad stopped running more than a week ago," said Grayson Campaign Spokesman Todd Jurkowski. "We have since created one that deals only with the facts of Daniel Webster's horrible record on women's issues. All the statements have been verified by independent fact check organizations. "
When asked if he was seeking an apology from the Grayson campaign, Webster said, "No, I'm not. It is the way he runs his campaign."
Webster says his campaign has actually benefitted in the wake of the ad, and has been flooded with volunteers and financial contributions.
"I'm telling you, the response has been absolutely tremendous," said Webster.
Despite the support, there's still one person who isn't thrilled about the TV spot: Sandy Webster.
"My wife was insulted," Webster told Fox News. "She said if that is you then what am I?"
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/target-of-taliban-dan-ad-speaks-out