Huntsman Slams Web Video Featuring Adopted Daughters

Jan. 6, 2012: Jon Huntsman leaves a campaign stop in Concord, N.H. (AP)

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman slammed a group purportedly backing Ron Paul after it released a Web video that included footage of Huntsman's adopted daughters and questioned whether he represented "American values."

The online ad, posted on YouTube by a group called "NHLiberty4Paul," suggests that Huntsman -- the former U.S. ambassador to China -- is a "Manchurian candidate." It shows Huntsman speaking Mandarin, and includes footage of him holding his Chinese adopted daughter Gracie when she was an infant. It also shows Huntsman holding daughter Asha shortly after she was adopted from India.

"American values? Or Chinese?" the ad asks, ending with "Vote Ron Paul."

The Paul campaign is denying involvement and has denounced the ad.

"I understand it's an ugly ad and I've disavowed it," Paul said Friday, calling the ad "way out of order."

Paul's New Hampshire spokeswoman Kate Schackai said Friday she didn't know who was behind the ad, but it wasn't anyone affiliated with the campaign.

"The video was utterly distasteful and no one who actually supports Dr. Paul's principles would have made it," she said.

Without commenting on who might be responsible, Huntsman said during a stop in Concord, N.H., on Friday that the video is "just stupid."

"What I object to is bringing forward pictures and videos forward of my adopted daughters and suggesting there is some sinister motive there," Huntsman said.

Huntsman and his wife have seven children, including Gracie, 12, who was abandoned at a Chinese vegetable market at 2 months old, and Asha, 6, who was left to die on a roadside in India the day she was born.

Abby Huntsman Livingston, Huntsman's daughter, said the family was "a little bit stunned" by the video.

"I think it's unfortunate that the political conversation has become this vile," she told Fox News. "This video goes a bit far."

Jon Huntsman said Friday that his adopted children are a "daily reminder that there are a lot of kids in this world who do not have the breaks that you do and who face a very, very uncertain future."

Despite his focus on New Hampshire, Huntsman still lags far behind front-runner Mitt Romney in the state. Huntsman has been making the case that Romney lacks a "consistent core," a point he underscored Friday without mentioning Romney's name.

"I don't like to spend a lot of time posturing and being one thing during the pre-primary phase, then during the primary phase, then the general (election)," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.