Crossroads GPS, the nonprofit arm of GOP strategist Karl Rove's American Crossroads, unveiled a video Tuesday blasting President Obama's second inauguration speech as revealing his "liberal" agenda.
The ad features clips of reporters and pundits, whom Crossroads GPS dubs the "mainstream media," describing Obama's speech as a liberal rallying cry. In the clips, the address is described as "the most liberal speech Barack Obama has ever given," "much more radical than the speech he gave four years ago," and as "laying out his real agenda."
"If the media is calling Obama's policies liberal, what can we expect in the next four years?" the video asks at the end.
The ad echoes a complaint from a number of Republicans expressed after the inauguration that Obama's speech was too polarizing and didn't offer enough opportunity to find common ground.
In his second inaugural address, Obama defended the role of an active federal government and called for action on climate change, gay rights and immigration reform.
Supporters of the president are praising the address, seeing Obama adopting a defiant tone towards the GOP going into his second term.
However, that tone has irked some Republicans, who have said they expected to find more middle ground in a speech that is considered a scene-setter for the next four years of work between the White House and Congress.
"This is the eighth [inauguration] that I’ve been to and always there’s been a portion of the speech where [the president says], 'I reach out my hand because we need to work together,' " said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the man bested by Obama in the 2008 election, on Monday. “That wasn’t in this speech."
