The campaign of President Trump, who has made the caravan of migrants heading to the U. S. a key issue in the Midterm elections, came under fire for an ad that critics say is racist and inaccurate.
C (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Fox News, NBC News, and Facebook pulled an ad from President Trump’s reelection campaign that falsely connected an undocumented Mexican migrant named Louis Bracamontes who murdered two California sheriff’s deputies in 2014 with the caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the U. S. where they plan to seek asylum.
Furthermore, the Trump ad falsely accused Democrats of letting Bracamontes, who said during his trial that he wanted to kill more police officers, of inviting him into the country and letting him stay. The spot also failed to note Bracamontes was convicted of immigration violations during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush and was arrested in Maricopa County, Arizona when Trump ally Joe Arpaio was sheriff, according to CNN.
The Trump Campaign spent $763,000 to air the spot on last night’s Sunday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots and another $2,772 on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, according to data from iSpot. TV. It also purchased $14,837 in Fox News ads, buying time on The Story with Martha MacCallum, Your World With Neal Cavuto a nd on Fox and Friends Sunday, iSpot says.
According to the New York Times, NBC’s standards and practices department approved the ad before it ran and changed its position after getting slammed for it online by Debra Messing, one of the star’s of its hit sitcom Will & Grace, among others. A spokesperson for the Comcast-owned network couldn’t immediately be reached.
Fox also had second thoughts about the Trump ad after it aired on the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.
“Upon further review, Fox News pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network.” – said Marianne Gambelli, President, Ad Sales at Fox News, in a statement.
Facebook also removed the Trump ad, which had been targetted at users in key states such as Florida and Arizona, the Times said. Facebook didn’t’ immediately respond to a request for comment for this post
CNN rejected the spot after making it “abundantly clear in its editorial coverage that this ad is racist,” according to a Tweet from the channel’s public relations department. The Trump campaign disputed the criticism of its ads and accused the media organizations of ignoring the problems of illegal immigration.
“So, @NBCNews @CNN @facebook have chosen to stand with those ILLEGALLY IN THIS COUNTRY. Instead of standing with LEGAL IMMIGRANTS and those that follow our laws,” writes Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale in a Tweet. “The #FakeNewsMedia and #PaloAltoMafia are trying to control what you see and how you think. STOP THE CARAVAN!
Parscale omitted any mention of Fox News’s decision to pull the ad because it is by far the president’s favorite media outlet. Fox hosts including Sean Hannity frequently speak with Trump.
According to an Oct. 27 Quartz story, the conservative-leaning Fox has done 18 out of Trump’s 23 major television interviews since taking office. NBC, MSNBC, ABC and CBS have been granted a combined 5 sit-downs with the president while the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Trinty Broadcasting Network have done three. Not surprisingly, CNN, which Trump repeatedly describes as “Fake News” has done zero interviews with Trump.
Trump himself appeared nonplussed by the controversy, telling reporters “a lot of things are offensive.”
I have covered the media industry for major news organizations such as CBS News and Bloomberg News on and off since around 2000. My specialties include debunking conventional wisdom and breaking news. I am passionate about telling great stories and have an obsession with fa…
