Trump's latest campaign ad tried to blame Democrats for crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. But all it really does is cast him and other Republicans as being responsible for a host of horrific crimes.
A new ad released by Donald Trump hours after the Republican Party shut down the federal government has backfired, and given Trump and his party yet another rhetorical black eye.
Seeking to cast blame for the shutdown on Democrats even though polling already shows the American people acknowledge reality and know Republicans are to blame the ad and accompanying press release from Trump's re-election campaign alleges that Democrats are "complicit" in "all murders by illegal immigrants."
But to use the ad's twisted logic, crimes committed by white supremacists, or other criminals like mass shooters, would thus be the fault of Republicans.
Trump expressed sympathy for neo-Nazis, describing them as "very fine" people, even though one of them had killed a woman in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has also repeatedly amplified white supremacists and their messages on social media.
By his own ad's rationale, Trump and Republicans are therefore "complicit" in multiple killings perpetrated by white supremacists like the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
Indeed, when Democrats called for congressional hearings to look into the rise of white supremacist violence, Republicans refused to go along.
Or perhaps Trump and the GOP would rather take the blame for the mass shooting in Las Vegas, where 58 people were killed, while 489 were wounded. Even though bump stocks were used to modify the shooter's weapon, which enabled him to kill more people, Republicans have refused to do anything to curb their use, at the behest of the NRA.
The Trump ad clumsily intensifies hostile rhetoric, months after members of both parties made the call for cooling off after a shooting during a Congressional baseball practice, which gravely injured Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise.
The ad echoes Trump and his administration's bigotry and race-baiting, showcasing cop killer Luis Bracamontes as a stand-in for all undocumented immigrants.
The accompanying press release alleges that the video "contrasts Democrats, who stand by those who commit acts of 'pure evil,' versus President Trump" who backs building a border wall.
Of course, the reality is Democrats support comprehensive immigration reform efforts, which would help law-abiding people who are already contributing to American society, not criminals. But claiming that Latino immigrants are all or mostly criminals is a core feature of Trump's politics and was a centerpiece of his campaign. In fact, undocumented immigrants are actually less likely to commit crime than native-born Americans.
Additionally, this ad would seem to cast blame on the rhetoric of anti-choice conservatives for the violence and killings that have been carried out against abortion clinics and providers, something those politicians have indignantly denied time and again.
In myriad ways, the ad simply makes no sense, and its "facts" bear no resemblance to reality.
What it demonstrates is nothing more than further race-baiting and demagoguery from Trump and his team, in a way that accidentally makes them, not their political opponents, look "complicit" in hatred, violence, and murder.
