In a statement issued moments ago, Hayworth, who dubbed himself "the consistent conservative" early in his campaign, says he regrets his association with the company, National Grants Conferences, and that he hopes voters will look at the issues -- not his infomercial, which we'll let you have a look at one more time after the jump.
"I should not have made the ad. It was a mistake," Hayworth begins his statement. "I believed, as did former Congressman J.C.Watts, this to be a reputable firm, but I did not completely check out the organization."
Hayworth's infomercial stardom even prompted conservative crybaby Glenn Beck to declare that "J.D. Hayworth's campaign is over" before making fun of him on his radio program yesterday morning.
Check out Beck slamming Hayworth for more than eight minutes here.
Hayworth originally defended his role as a hype-man by saying, "I'm a broadcaster, and yeah, I appeared in this, and yes, it was a job. And that's that."
As you can see, he's since changed his tune.
"As a former broadcaster, I would often make ads for clients, but I regret my association with this firm," Hayworth continues in today's statement. "In fact, I demanded that they immediately cease and desist all use of my name and image when it was brought to my attention that they were violating the conditions of our original agreement."
It's not clear what that original agreement entailed but dishin' out "free" government cash doesn't exactly fall in line with the ideals of a "consistent conservative."
The company went bankrupt after Hayworth's cameo in the ad and has since come under fire from consumer-advocacy groups for using high-pressure sales tactics to trick people into paying for information that's available for free online.
"I hope voters will look past a video presentation made three years ago and instead
look at the issues confronting us in 2010," Hayworth says.
Voters may be able to look past Hayworth's acting as a pitchman for a shady company -- they may be able to ignore his apparent fear of vampires, and man-on-horse weddings, too. But when you combine all of that with his insistence that the United States never declared war on the Nazis -- as much as it pains us to do so on anything -- we're gonna have to agree with Glenn Beck.
