Abby Huntsman Livingston, daughter of GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, appeared on Fox News Friday to push back against a controversial video, reportedly released by Ron Paul supporters in New Hampshire, that scrutinized her father's ties to China and the family's two adopted children.
"I think it's unfortunate that the political conversation has become this vile," she said. "I think this video goes a bit far. My two little sisters are the love of my dad's life. They came from very unfortunate circumstances, and we feel blessed every day to have them in our lives. So, they're the ones I think about in a video like this."
Abby Huntsman Livingston continued, saying "the Ron Paul supporters don't realize that these actions really affect the Ron Paul campaign."
The video, posted to YouTube by a group claiming to be "New Hampshire Liberty 4 Paul," attempts to draw a sinister connection between Jon Huntsman's fluency in Mandarin -- he was a former U.S. ambassador to China -- and adopted children to suggest that he may be some sort of Manchurian Candidate. It closes with an illustration of Huntsman as Chairman Mao.
The Paul campaign quickly disavowed the video after it surfaced on Friday.
"The video is disgusting. Whoever put it up should remove it immediately," Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said to CNN. The campaign later posted a more lengthy response trying to distance itself from the spot.
Huntsman, responded to the video himself on Friday, calling it stupid and explaining his family background.
"I saw just parts of it yesterday," he said. "First of all, it is just stupid. Second of all, yeah, I lived overseas four times ... I speak Chinese, of course I do. If someone wants to poke fun of me for speaking Chinese, that's OK. The thing I object to is bringing forward pictures and videos of my adopted daughters and suggesting that there is some sinister motive there. I have a daughter from China who was abandoned at two months of age and left in a vegetable market, picked up by the police and sent to an orphanage."
"I have a second daughter who was born in India in a very rural village ... and left for dead the day she was born," he added. "And luckily she was picked up before the animals got her, and she was sent to an orphanage for her safety, was raised and now she is in my family. So I have two little girls who are a daily reminder that there are a lot of kids in this world who don't have the breaks that you do and face a very uncertain future ... and now these two girls are on the presidential campaign trail. I say, how cool is that?"
Video of the interview above, via Fox News
Watch the original spot: