By Meg James
Los Angeles Times
NBCUniversal said Monday that it is pulling President Donald Trump’s controversial anti-immigrant campaign advertisement —hours after the spot ran prominently during “Sunday Night Football.” Fox News said it decided to stop running the commercial as well.
The 30-second advertisement, which Trump unveiled last week, features images of long lines of people marching, evoking migrants currently making their way through Mexico. The ad also contains footage of Luis Bracamontes, a man who killed two Northern California deputies in 2014 while he was in the country illegally. A voice-over on the advertisement then says: “America cannot allow this invasion. The migrant caravan must be stopped.”
The commercial, which many have branded as racist, then urges viewers to “vote Republican.” It concludes with a Trump voice-over saying: “I am Donald Trump and I approve this message.”
The ad, paid for by the Donald J. Trump for President campaign committee, ran one time during “Sunday Night Football,” a high-profile matchup between the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers. “Sunday Night Football” draws among the highest ratings in television. The ad also was in rotation Monday morning on cable news channel MSNBC.
Fox News also distanced itself from the commercial. “Upon further review, Fox News pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network,” Marianne Gambelli, Fox News’ president of ad sales, said Monday in a statement.
Some other news organizations, including CNN, refused to run the spot.
NBC faced criticism for running the advertisement, which draws a direct line from immigrants to crime, even though studies have shown that immigrants do not commit more crimes. But Trump has made the correlation many times, including during his June 2015 announcement, in Trump Tower, that he was running for president.
“After further review, we recognize the insensitive nature of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our properties as soon as possible,” an NBCUniversal spokesman said in a statement Monday. “It will cease to air on any properties moving forward, nationally or locally.”
