As my colleague, Leo Vidal here at PoliticusUSA makes clear regarding Mr. Trump using the most blatant of racist ads to use as his closing argument for the mid-term elections by pinning it up on top of his Twitter feed:
“It remains to be seen whether this will serve him — and his party — well in Tuesday’s elections. But one thing that has been made clear is that he has drawn the dividing lines in such a way that Americans will have a very clear choice when they go to the polls on Tuesday. They can choose Democrats — the party of tolerance — or Republicans —the party of hate.“
The ad, launched yesterday morning on Mr. Trump’s Twitter account – which is part of the presidential record –Â features a Mexican who was deported only to return and kill two police officers, Luis Bracamontes grinning while saying “I’m going to kill more cops soon,” only to be leveraged by Mr. Trump adding,
“It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now. Vote. GOP.”
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CNN characterizes the ad as “the most racially charged national political ad in 30 years,” and states the “ad recalls the notorious “Willie Horton” campaign ad financed by supporters of the George H.W. Bush campaign in the 1988 presidential election.”
As the ad progresses with pictures of Trump’s labeled “dangerous caravan,” which is comprised of mainly women and children immigrants trying to flee Central America due to circumstances which many analysts argue has driven them to seek asylum in the United States, closes asking “Who else will Democrats let in,” only to have the following text at the bottom:
“President Donald Trump and Republicans are making America safe again.
Beyond the divisiveness, demagoguery and inflammatory rhetoric used in the advertising which was originally made for Mr. Trump’s campaign, there are additional problems with the ad, which the Washington Post highlights today.
First, as is the case with most everything Mr. Trump says, he neglects to provide full disclosure by reminding the American people that it is his party who controls both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate.
In fact, the inflammatory ad has seemingly raised the ire of a couple of republicans who see the ad as squandering political capital by pandering to those who are looking to blame immigrants for the problems we are experiencing in the nation, and fails to focus on issues Republicans believe are accomplishments.
Second, Trump’s ad neglects to add that Mr. Bracamontes was deported several times prior to his “final entry whereupon he killed two police officers.” Worse? Bracamontes appears to have re-entered the country sometime while George W. Bush was President.
According to the Washington Post:
“Bracamontes, who had been deported multiple times before his crime rampage, appears to have last entered the country while George W. Bush was president, sometime between May 2001 and February 2002, when there is a record for his marriage in Arizona, according to the Sacramento Bee.”
At the end of the day, the ad accomplishes one thing only, and that is it makes Mr. Trump feel good about himself and his imaginary great leadership, while once again using stereotypes, demagoguery, and fear, in order to rally his base to get to the polls and vote. ”
CNN highlights this point when they argue:
“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.â€
May each and every American remember one thing as they go to the polls on Tuesday: Which promises has Mr. Trump kept which have benefited us on a personal level.
My suspicion is when we go looking for those accomplishments, we will readily see why it is that Trump has been using the issue of a caravan which is nearly one-thousand miles away from our border, and immigration as his closing argument; he has not done a darned thing he promised the American people since he has been elected other than place two conservative Justices on the Supreme Court, with one of those justices being of questionable character.
And let’s not forget: Mr. Trump may not be on the ballot next week, but his agenda is, and he surely has injected himself into the mid-term race where traditionally the party in power struggles to win control of the House or Senate.
The framers of our constitution wanted the branches of government to serve as a check on each other, however it appears Mr. Trump is running roughshod over the most basic of democratic norms and ideals, especially given his recent belief that it is okay to strip birthright citizenship by Executive Order, this when that right is embedded in our fourteenth amendment.
So as each of us as Americans go to our polling places to cast our ballot, we need only ask one thing: What has Trump done for each of us lately, and when we ask that question, we find our answer to be lies at a historical pace, work extremely little, but most importantly failed at being the essential leader our nation needs at this time.
Republicans do not deserve to be in power, for they have been complicit in Mr. Trump’s scheme through their silence and near about face since he has attained the highest office in the land.
A social psychologist by day, political analyst and journalist by night, Dr. Mark Bear has built an established audience by printing facts, without click-bait, sensationalism, or hyperbole. He is married to his wife of 34 years, and both he and his wife, Susan, have a Schnauzer named Shadow. Follow along by connecting with Doc on Facebook or Twitter under the handle Dr. Progressive!
