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Most Racist Political Ad Since Willie Horton? That’s One Way People Are Describing This Ad

Posted on
February 5, 2018
by Andrew Cullen
Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran is likely to run for governor of his state – but first the Republican has to out-do his Trump-backed primary opponent, fellow Republican Ron DeSantis. And what better way to out-Trump a Trumpster, than to fight to the death, wielding the red meat of what the Miami Herald editorial page calls "race-baiting."

Donald Trump's State of the Union in Political Ad Form

President Donald Trump brought the families of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens to his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, and during the course of his speech he explained how the two teenaged girls were brutally murdered by MS-13 gang members on Long Island. The devastating story was used to make a larger point on immigration – that immigrants from other countries can pose a legitimate physical danger to American citizens and particularly children.

Many people take fierce exception to Trump's argument of course. Aside from the audible laughter and scoffs in the room when the president made his point, many people have since pointed out that Trump's conflation of illegal immigration and crime – specifically violent crime – just simply doesn't have the evidence to back it up (aside from the cherry-picked examples Trump and his allies often turn to).

Whatever view, it almost seems like Watchdog PAC – the pro-Corcoran super PAC responsible for this ad – got an advanced copy of Trump's speech. In the ad, mischievously titled "Preventable," a young red-haired girl is strolling through her visibly-suburban neighborhood when she is approached by the stereotypically hooded and bearded "illegal immigrant." Without so much as a word or second thought, the "illegal immigrant" pulls a gun on the young woman and randomly shoots her in the street. Her shocked and dismayed face is that last thing we see as her body slumps towards the sidewalk.

"A young woman, gunned down by an illegal immigrant who should have been deported but was protected by a Sanctuary city," Corcoran says. "When I heard Kate Steinle's story, I thought of my own daughter Kate, and how this could have happened to any family, anywhere."

The shooting of Kate Steinle that Corcoran is referring to took place in San Francisco in 2015. In that case, a single shot was fired by a homeless man and undocumented immigrant – the bullet hit the concrete pier first, ricocheted 78 feet and hit Steinle in the back. After parsing the evidence (which did not match up with the national narrative Trump was creating) the jury voted to acquit the shooter Jose Ines Garcia Zarate of murder and involuntary manslaughter. Since the moment the incident happened, Steinle's murder has been used a the perfect "I told you so" evidence used by anti-immigration activists and politicians to demonize Sanctuary City policies.

Corcoran's retelling of the case is overly-simplistic at best – but nevertheless his ad serves as yet another scare tactic to demonize the idea of "Sanctuary" cities, which have become a huge target in the GOP-led war on immigration of all types – including legal immigration, as Trump explained in his State of the Union.

Corcoran's political action committee, Watchdog PAC, which created this ad, spent $95,560 to run the 30-second spot more than 700 times on Fox News channels in central Florida cities, including Jacksonville, Pensacola, Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Richard Corcoran Gubernatorial Run Practically Inevitable

According to the Miami Herald, the "explosive ad minimizes any remaining doubt about Corcoran's potential run for governor," which he said he will decide formally after the legislative sessions wraps up in March.

But it is not surprising that in a state like Florida – which Trump won by 1.4 percentage points (which is actually a lot) – a candidate for governor would try to adopt the Trump playbook as closely as possible.

And that pretty much guarantees that the Republican primary in Florida's gubernatorial race is going to be one of the most exciting to watch this cycle.
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