{"id":40971,"date":"2016-06-23T18:08:14","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T22:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=40971"},"modified":"2016-06-23T18:08:14","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T22:08:14","slug":"obama-enlists-hollywood-star-power-in-major-gun-control-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=40971","title":{"rendered":"Obama enlists Hollywood star power in major gun control initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hollywood stars follow Obama\u2019s gun control script, tweeting White House talking points on cue<\/h1>\n

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By Hollie McKay
\nFOX News<\/p>\n

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LOS ANGELES \u2013 \u00a0<\/span>Hollywood stars make their living delivering lines written by others, and on the subject of gun control many are quoting a script written by an unlikely source \u2013 the White House.<\/p>\n

An email sent last week to Tinseltown\u2019s A-listers by Associate Director of Public Engagement at the White House Jesse Moore \u2013 titled \u201cArtists & Entertainers Unite to #StopGunViolence\u201d and addressed to \u201cFamily\u201d \u2013 offered Twitter-ready talking points for showing support for President Obama\u2019s gun control agenda.\u00a0 FoxNews.com, which obtained a copy of the email, compared it to tweets sent by such stars as Ashton Kutcher, and found that the stars passed the thoughts on to adoring fans with little or no ad-libbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis seems an unprecedented abuse of White House influence to manipulate the public into believing celebrities genuinely supported the president,\u201d said Dan Gainor, vice president of business and culture at the Media Research Institute. \u201cHollywood is just an extension of Obama’s press office.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis seems an unprecedented abuse of White House influence to manipulate the public into believing celebrities genuinely supported the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Dan Gainor, vice president of business and culture at the Media Research Institute<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The email followed last Obama\u2019s Jan. 5 announcement that he was issuing an executive order to require that anyone selling firearms get a license and conduct background checks, deploying more than 200 Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and investigators to enforce existing laws and pushing $500 million in spending on mental health issues he says are related to gun violence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It is not known how many people the email went out to, but sources said it was received by several high-profile actors, directors, publicists, producers and writers. It offered cut-and-paste language to fit Twitter\u2019s 140-character limit, as well as President Obama\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelow you have:\u00a0 short and long-term action steps, more info on POTUS\u2019s actions, highlights from YOUR Tweets thus far (thank you!), and draft Tweets for you to build from if helpful,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n

It went on to offer step-by-step guidance for powerful entertainment figures to use their clout in the service of Obama.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMake your voice heard on social media today using #StopGunViolence and see how many of your peers you can get to do the same,\u201d it read. \u201cI\u2019ll make sure everyone here knows you have the President\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

The White House\u2019s Office of Public Engagement, which disseminated the informal instructions, bills itself as the \u201cembodiment of the President\u2019s goal of making government inclusive, transparent, accountable and responsible,\u201d also provided \u201cdraft tweet language\u201d that included a link to the White House gun control campaign.<\/p>\n

Examples included:<\/p>\n