McCrory ad on HB2: 'Are we really talking about this?'

Gov. Pat McCrory's campaign rolled out a new ad Wednesday dismissing the controversy over House Bill 2.

"You know, when we were raising average teacher pay, creating new jobs and cutting taxes, other folks were actually pushing to make our schools allow boys to use the girls' locker rooms and showers," McCrory says in the ad, during which he addresses the camera directly. "Are we really talking about this? Does the desire to be politically correct outweigh our children's privacy and safety? Not on my watch. Our kids and teachers are my priority. This is North Carolina. Let's do what's right."

The controversy over whether transgender individuals can use the bathroom of their choice in government-owned buildings reaches back to March, when lawmakers held a special session over the matter. The bill that emerged, which McCrory signed hours after it was passed, has been the focus of controversy and several federal lawsuits that aren't expected to be heard in court until next year.

Although McCrory, a Republican, doesn't reference his opponent in the ad, he does critique in an accompanying email Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper's refusal to defend the law in court.

"For months, Roy Cooper has pushed a false narrative about the state's privacy and protection law to divert attention away from his support for an extreme agenda that's out of step with North Carolina beliefs and values," Russell Peck, McCrory's campaign manager, said in the email. "Roy Cooper supports policies that allow boys and even grown men to use a girl's locker room or shower facility."

It's also fair to note that the McCrory campaign insists this spot is about more than HB2 itself.

"This is clearly a larger issue now that half of all states are fighting the left's extreme agenda being pushed here by Roy Cooper and his allies," McCrory spokesman Ricky Diaz said in an email.

However, this is McCrory's second ad of the campaign referencing House Bill 2, and it's hard to imagine it being such a salient issue in the campaign if McCrory hadn't signed the bill and so vigorously defended it. 

And as Cooper's campaign was quick to point out Wednesday, comes a week after{{/a}} McCrory dismissed the law as "irrelevant" on a local political talk show, citing recent actions by the Obama administration and surmising that it would be an issue for the U.S. Supreme Court to sort out.

"How can we fix this problem if we have a governor who won’t even acknowledge it exists?" Cooper campaign spokesman Jamal Little said in a news release. "While the Governor continues to deny the economic impact of House Bill 2, by running this ad it’s clear he recognizes the impact it is having on his poll numbers. It’s time for a leader who will work to repeal House Bill 2 and put the interests of North Carolinians first."