In a desperate attempt to rile up his base ahead of the midterms, President Donald Trump tweeted out a racist campaign ad on Wednesday featuring a cop-killing immigrant who had been deported twice from the United States.
"It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country," Trump tweeted along with the video. "Vote Republican now!"
The ad, clearly designed to stoke fear, shows Bracamontes bragging about murdering two cops.
"ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, LUIS BRACAMONTES, KILLED OUR PEOPLE" the ad reads.
"I killed (expletive) cops," Bracamontes boasted. "They're (expletive) dead. I don't (expletive) regret that expletive)." Bracamontes then vowed to break out of prison, promising to "kill more."
"DEMOCRATS LET HIM IN" flashes across the screen before cutting back to Bracamontes (they didn't).
"I don't (expletive) regret that (expletive)," Bracamontes said. "The only thing that I (expletive) regret is that I (expletive) killed two. I wish (expletive) killed more of those (expletive)."
As he's led out of the courtroom, Bracamontes said he's "going to kill more cops soon."
"DEMOCRATS LET HIM STAY" appears in bold (they didn't). "WHO ELSE WOULD DEMOCRATS LET IN?"
Afterward, footage plays of what the ad implies are hordes of immigrants (there are no citations or sources listed for what's shown).
Unfortunately for Trump, the facts don't merit the fear he's intending to instill in his voters, who see illegal immigration as an existential threat to our national sovereignty.
After some digging, The Daily Beast found that the individual featured in the ad, Luis Bracamontes, hadn't been let into or allowed to stay in the United States by Democrats as the ad declares.
The polar opposite is true.
Bracamontes was deported to Mexico in 1997 under President Bill Clinton after he was caught selling drugs. He then had snuck back into the United States by 2001 and was deported a second time under President George W. Bush for being in the country illegally.
Less than a year later in 2002, as the Bush administration grappled with the fallout from 9-11, Bracamontes found his way into the United States - while Bush was president - and then married an American citizen.
Bracamontes was convicted of shooting and killing two Sacramento police officers in 2014. He was sentenced to death in April 2018.
In addition, Bracamontes' weapon of choice was an AR-15, the same gun used in countless mass shootings, including last month's massacre of Jews at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Trump and his Republican cohorts have mounted staunch opposition to limiting the sale of the AR-15, claiming any curtailing of ownership would be an infringement on the Second Amendment.
The ad never mentions white nationalist terrorism, nor the Pittsburgh shooting, nor any instance of American slaughter wrought through the barrel of an AR-15.
Is anyone surprised Trump would engage in dishonest race-baiting a week before the midterms?
Nope.
The Bracamontes spot is triggering memories of the 1988 election when Republicans used Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who happened to be black, as a racist scapegoat to scare voters.
Horton was granted a weekend furlough in 1986 and managed to escape and commit other crimes, but was ultimately recaptured in April 1987. He is serving a life sentence in prison.
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