The campaign for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has sued the anonymous creators of a controversial video that was attributed to the campaign, claiming false designation of origin, false advertising, and defamation.
The video, which has tallied over 300,000 hits, was posted by YouTube user NHLiberty4Paul prior to the recent New Hampshire primary. It questions the “American values” of former GOP candidate Jon Huntsman by featuring clips of “China Jon” speaking Mandarin and walking with his Chinese daughter.
Although professor Rebecca Tushnet characterizes the campaign’s claims as “a bit suspect,” Ron Paul may have already benefited from the lawsuit. His campaign’s strong response to the anti-Chinese video may diminish some voters’ concerns about Paul’s association with “racially charged” newsletters. Paul may even get the opportunity to test the theory that Huntsman himself was behind the video.
The Paul campaign’s complaint can be viewed here. For further reading, Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole buncha sonnets.