DES MOINES, IOWA — Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords will campaign with Hillary Clinton this weekend, joining the Democratic front-runner’s army of surrogates making a final push in the Hawkeye state before the caucuses on Monday.
Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, will appear at a rally with Clinton in Ames on Saturday and kick off a canvassing event later in the day, the campaign confirmed.
The couple became outspoken advocates for gun control after Giffords survived a shot to the head at a political event in Tucson five years ago. Two years later, they founded a superPAC called Americans for Responsible Solutions, just weeks weeks after a gunman killed 26 people—20 of them children—at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
This weekend, the pair will praise Clinton’s record to prevent gun violence and dedication to “common sense” safety measures, according to an aide.
Giffords and Kelly endorsed Clinton earlier this month in a statement, saying: “Only one candidate for president has the determination and toughness to stand up to the corporate gun lobby – and the record to prove it. That candidate is Hillary Clinton.”
They also praised Clinton for doing “what is right, not what is politically expedient.”
The former secretary of state said she was “humbled” to receive the couple’s endorsement “as an admirer of their courage in the face of incredible odds, their service to the country that they love, and their commitment to ending the epidemic of gun violence.”
Clinton often calls out Republicans on gun control at her campaign events, but it’s been a divisive issue on the Democratic side as well. Clinton has slammed her chief rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, for his record on guns, particularly a 2005 vote to provide gun manufactures legal immunity. Earlier this month, Sanders reversed course on the vote, pledging to support a bill that repeal key parts of the law. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll shows Clinton and Sanders virtually tied in Iowa. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com
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