In what could be the most abhorrent political advertisement of this election cycle, a pro-Republican group is now targeting the African American community with a racist ad that claims Democrats are trying to bring back lynching.
The ad cited the fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination as evidence that Democrats are doing away with the “presumption of innocence.”
“If the Democrats can do that to a white justice on the Supreme Court with no evidence … what will happen to our husbands, our fathers or our sons when a white girl lies on them?” one woman says.
“Girl, white Democrats will be lynching black men again,” another voice in the ad responds.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
The full ad:
This is a real radio ad currently running in Arkansas in support of Republican Congressman French Hill on radio stations targeted to the African American community. I don’t even have words to describe it. pic.twitter.com/vpzt1nGPlc
— (((Ben Tribbett))) (@notlarrysabato) October 18, 2018
Republicans are running racist attack ads all over the place
While GOP Congressman French Hill was pressured to denounce this ad on Thursday, it is only one in a growing number of Republican attack ads with obvious racial undertones.
As the New York Times reported this week, the GOP’s newest tactic is to tie some of the more diverse Democratic candidates to terrorism.
In California’s 50th district where Democratic candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar is running, his Republican opponent has tried to paint him as a dangerous foreigner. In one ad, Campa-Najjar is referred to as a “Palestinian, Mexican, millennial Democrat†and a “security risk” who is “working to infiltrate Congress.”
In Ohio, as the Times reports, GOP Rep. Steve Chabot “is tying his challenger, Aftab Pureval, to terrorism because Mr. Pureval once worked at a law firm that settled terrorism-related lawsuits against Libya; he was not directly involved in the settlements, which were approved by Congress.”
“In Virginia,” the report continues, “Abigail Spanberger is being attacked for ties to a Muslim high school where she briefly taught English as a substitute teacher.”
All of these claims are ludicrous, of course, but they are being funded by some extremist organization. Many of them are connected to GOP leadership.
As The New York Times reported, the racist advertisements have been “largely produced by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC associated with Speaker Paul D. Ryan.”
Ultimately, the kind of rhetoric spewed in these negative ads may have become acceptable to Republican voters in the age of Donald Trump, but it’s likely a major turn off to the majority of Americans.
At the end of the day, these desperate Republican tactics show just how terrified the party is of the looming blue wave that threatens to wipe them out of power next month.
Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
