Donald Trump has released an ad that has unleashed a storm of controversy. It’s being called “racist,” “desperate,” and “unacceptable.” Anyway you slice it, it’s dirty politics. This is not what America is about.
Response of @JeffFlake to this new Trump ad: “This is just a new low in campaigning. It’s sickening.” https://t.co/f6oyjId6O7
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 31, 2018
The Trump campaign ad is the latest example of the President’s willingness to lie and fear-monger in order to tear at racial and societal divides; to embrace demagoguery to bolster his own political power and the cause of the Republican midterm campaign.
The ad is pinned to the top of Trump’s feed making it clear he wants it to be the first thing his 55 million followers see when they visit his Twitter page.
"In the most racially charged national political ad in 30 years, President Donald Trump and the Republican Party accuse Democrats of plotting to help Central American invaders overrun the nation with cop killers." https://t.co/RLv1pUQrEV
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 1, 2018
This may be the most desperate and vile ad since Willie Horton. Trump and Republicans don't want to talk about the fact that they plan to repeal the ACA, gut Social Security, Medicare, & Medicaid, and cut taxes even further for their donors, so they've resorted to fearmongering. https://t.co/xaXNThEOfb
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 31, 2018
Newsweek adds that right-wing actor James Woods first tweeted the video, but it’s known who created it:
There is no indication in the video of who made it, but Trump’s tweet wasn’t the clip’s debut. The video gained a lot of attention on Reddit almost two weeks before Trump’s tweet. After it was posted to a subreddit called r/The_Donald, a forum for the president’s supporters, it was upvoted 7,400 times.
It appears the video surfaced first on a YouTube account called “Trump 2020” which is connected to a Twitter account for a user called @JFord1984, who has tweeted four times. It is the only video on the YouTube channel and was uploaded on October 17.
I'm not going to share it, but the video Donald Trump just tweeted is one of the most despicable acts of fearmongering he has engaged in to date.
There is no bottom with this man.
— Avi Bueno (@AviAhvee) October 31, 2018