Trump Defends Ad Featuring Sacramento Cop Killer Denounced As Racist
WASHINGTON (CBS13/AP) — President Donald Trump says a video he tweeted showing a Mexican migrant in a courtroom smiling and boasting about killing police officers is tough "but correct."
Democrats and Republicans have denounced the video as a racist campaign tactic.
The video was reminiscent of the infamous "Willie Horton" ad used against Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988 and condemned as racist advertisement.
Horton, who was black, raped a woman while out of prison on a weekend furlough. As Massachusetts governor, Dukakis supported the furlough program
Trump told The Washington Times in an interview published Friday that he didn't view it as a "Willie Horton ad at all." The president says it's just an ad about a "bad guy" who twice entered the country illegally and committed crimes.
The video highlights the case of Luis Bracamontes, a twice-deported immigrant from Mexico sentenced to death in California for killing Sacramento County Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer Sheriff Detective Michael Davis Jr.
The spot includes expletives uttered by Bracamontes during his trial professing regret at not killing more officials.
The caption reads: "Illegal immigrant, Luis Bracamontes, killed our people!" It adds: "Democrats let him into our country...Democrats let him stay." Trump provides no evidence linking Democrats to Bracamontes.