NBC aired an immigration-themed advertisement during last night’s “Sunday Night Football” game between the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, which CNN publicly declared too racist to run.
The 30-second prime-time ad – a longer version of which was tweeted by President Trump on Halloween, juxtaposes footage of cop-killing illegal immigrant Luis Bracamontes with the approaching Central American caravan, implying that similarly violent criminals may be among those seeking asylum in the United States.
Bracamontes – who had been deported twice, was convicted of murdering two Sacramento sheriff’s deputies in 2014 and sentenced to death in April.
“Dangerous illegal criminals like cop killer Luis Bracamontes don’t care about our laws,” says the ad.
It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now! https://t.co/0pWiwCHGbh pic.twitter.com/2crea9HF7G
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018
NBC’s decision to air the ad comes on the heels of CNN’s refusal to play it, while the network publicly responded to a tweet by Donald Trump Jr. criticizing the network for their decision.
“CNN has made it abundantly clear in its editorial coverage that this ad is racist,” reads CNN’s tweet. “When presented with an opportunity to be paid to take a version of this ad, we declined.”
CNN has made it abundantly clear in its editorial coverage that this ad is racist. When presented with an opportunity to be paid to take a version of this ad, we declined. Those are the facts. 🍎
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 3, 2018
NBC’s decision to air the add did not go over with some of their on-air talent, such as Debra Messing who plays Grace in “Will and Grace.” Messing tweeted: “I want you to know that I am ashamed that my network aired this disgusting racist ad,” adding “It is the antithesis of everything I personally believe in, and what, I believe, our show is all about.”
To our @willandgrace fans—I want you to know that I am ashamed that my network aired this disgusting racist ad. It is the antithesis of everything I personally believe in, and what, I believe, our show is all about. @nbc pic.twitter.com/CLinZKHB47
— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) November 5, 2018
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As we reported on Saturday, the ad has drawn criticism from the left, which has likened it to President George H.W. Bush’s 1988 “Willie Horton” ad featuring a black man who committed violent crimes against white people during a weekend pass from prison:
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports that Trump’s ad featuring Bracamontes is based on a falsehood.
“Democrats let him into our country,” the ad’s script reads. “Democrats let him stay.”
Just one problem: It doesn’t appear to be true.
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.
He lived near Salt Lake City until 2014, when a methamphetamine-fueled road trip ended with him murdering two Sacramento-area deputies, according to the newspaper.
The ad also failed to mention that in 1998, Bracamontes was arrested on drug charges in Phoenix, then released by the office of then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio “for reasons unknown,” the Bee reported. –WaPo
The “Sunday Night Football” version of the ad excluded the claim about Democrats, though it still drew a direct connection between the migrant caravan and crime.
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