BREAKING: Cindy McCain: “I stand by my husband’s stance on DADT”

UPDATE: New Facebook page: Take off the duct tape, Cindy!

Cindy McCain, the Arizona Republican Senator’s wife, made huge headlines across the country Thursday when she joined once again with the gay activist NoH8 Campaign, bucking her husband’s fervent stance against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and came out in support of repeal. But late Friday night, in a dramatic about-face, Cindy McCain issued a statement via Twitter, “I fully support the NOH8 campaign and all it stands for and am proud to be a part of it. But I stand by my husband’s stance on DADT.”

Mrs. McCain, in a video that went viral, had said just a day earlier, “Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future. They can’t serve our country openly,” to which her friends on the video add, “What’s worse, these laws that legislate discrimination teach bullies that what they’re doing is acceptable.” McCain ends with, “Our government treats the LGBT community like second class citizens, why shouldn’t they?”

This was not a nuanced clarification, but a total repudiation of what was being characterized as a brave stance. Now, she will have to endure the scorn of the seventy-eight percent of Americans who want “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repealed, and those who see a woman chose her husband’s dwindling career over honor and protection of vulnerable children.

Yesterday’s headlines:

ABC: Cindy McCain Stands Against ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and Her Husband

FOX: Cindy McCain Knocks “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

New York Times: Cindy McCain Calls for Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask’

CBS: Cindy McCain Slams “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in Anti-Gay Bulling Ad Campaign

Tomorrow’s headlines will not be kind.

John Aravosis writes,

“Did she lie today or lie yesterday? Either way, she’s a liar, and she should be removed from the NOH8 video because, as of right now, Cindy McCain is a hater. Not to mention, great message she just sent to gay youth. If someone pressures you, cave and support hate.

“I can’t believe I defended this woman over the past 24 hours to people who tweeted me, and messaged me on Facebook, and said she was a fraud. I argued that she had a done a great thing. And now we see the real Cindy McCain: Hateful two-faced homophobic fraud.

“Her lying homophobic face needs to be yanked from that video immediately.”

Worse, what message is she and her bigoted, controlling husband, sending to children around the world, about equality, and about the bounds of marriage?

H/T @Cody_k