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Adelsons push back on ‘media double standard’

Posted at 11:15 AM, Sep 29, 2012
and last updated 2012-09-29 10:10:16-04

By: CNN Political Unit

(CNN) – Dr. Miriam Adelson, wife of Las Vegas casino magnate and billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is pushing back on what she calls “relentless” attacks from Democrats and Obama re-election campaign on her and her family, underscoring what she views as a bias in the media against conservatives.

Dr. Adelson penned an op-ed posted to the conservative-leaning Daily Caller’s website Friday pointing to her and her husband’s political affiliations as reason for the attacks.

“Too often there is a media double standard in our country based on situational ethics. The president’s supporters are treated one way while those who might challenge his leadership are treated in another,” she wrote.

The Adelson’s have contributed generously to Republican candidates and causes this election cycle, famously bank rolling the super PAC backing former GOP candidate Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign throughout much of the Republican primary as well as attending Tampa’s Republican National Convention in August.

Since Gingrich ended his bid for the White House in May, the wealthy couple has given their support to Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Together, they have given at least $36 million to various organizations and candidates this campaign season according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks the influence of money in politics. For his part, Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of the Sands Corporation, has said he is willing to spend “whatever it takes” to ensure a Republican takes the White House in January.

Dr. Adelson’s op-ed comes on the heels of a series of reports about court documents and federal investigations regarding her husband’s casino chain’s business practices in Las Vegas as well as in China.

“Those who currently chase after my family, who demonize us for our political positions, are acting on motives contrary to American values,” wrote Dr. Adelson. “And those in the media who are collaborating with these people are also acting from the same wrong political motives. Indeed, they are feeding it with a media double standard – allowing for Democrats what is forbidden to Republicans.”

Dr. Adelson adds however, “The ugly attacks – the damaging bad-mouthing by political partisans – will not deter us from our way.”

While Adelson does not specifically spell out in the article the attacks facing her and her family, recently the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued an apology and retraction of a statement that linked the casino magnate to a “‘Prostitution Strategy’ in China” after Sheldon Adelson threatened a libel suit.

Sheldon Adelson expressed similar sentiments as his wife in an interview with Politico published Sunday pushing back against the reports and asserting that four more years of an Obama administration would bring government “vilification of people that were against him.”

In the interview, Adelson pointed to the government as source for leaking information about federal investigations involving old events.

CNN’s Dana Davidsen and CNN Senior Producer Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.