Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Friday repurposed the controversial “Daisy” ad from 1964 that ominously raised the specter of a nuclear bomb explosion to warn about the dangers of the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign released his version of the ad on Friday, playing the ad almost in its entirety in a web video. A little girl slowly picks petals off a daisy, counting as she goes, but once she picks all of the petals, a nuclear bomb explodes on screen.
In Huckabee’s version, a message about the Iranian nuclear threat rolls on screen following the explosion
“A threat to Israel is a threat to America. Stand with Israel. Reject a nuclear Iran,” reads the ad.
Huckabee posted the video as negotiators once again extended a deadline on Friday to continue working toward a final deal that aims to cut off Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb through restrictions on its nuclear activity and thorough inspections, in exchange for relief from international economic sanctions.
Huckabee’s ad is drawn from a campaign spot the Democratic National Committee ran in support of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 presidential campaign. The ad only ran once because it was so controversial and it was widely panned as a prime example of fear-mongering. But many credit the ad with helping Johnson win that election.
Even Huckabee’s campaign acknowledged in a press release that the ad is “controversial,” but it noted that “the video highlights the threat posed by a nuclear Iran.”
The video also urges supporters to sign Huckabee’s letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, urging him to “reject a deal with Iran that will spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, threaten Israel’s existence and unleash a wave of terrorism around the world.”
Kerry, President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have insisted this week that the U.S. will “walk away” from the negotiating table if Iran cannot meet the U.S.’s demands for a good deal that would cut off Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb.