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Washington • Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is condemning a YouTube video purporting to come from his campaign that attacks rival Mitt Romney for his belief in the LDS Church and the faith's previous ban on blacks holding Mormon priesthood.
The clip calls Romney's religion a racist organization because it did not allow black men full privileges in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and questions why Romney didn't speak out about the ban when he attended LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University.
"Do we really want a racist in the White House?" a computer-generated female voice intones in the video.
Tim Miller, a spokesman for Huntsman — who is also Mormon — said the campaign had nothing to do with the advertisement and called on YouTube to pull the video because it "illegally" includes the official "I'm Jon Huntsman and I approved this message" tagline at the end.
"This is ridiculous, offensive, and it couldn't be more clear that it comes from a Ron Paul supporter," Miller said. "We of course condemn it."
The Paul campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Romney spokeswoman also declined to comment on the video.