LOWELL, Mass. — Donald Trump may have some explaining to do about footage used in his new campaign advertisement.
Released Monday, the TV ad shows people rushing towards a border fence as the narrator says Trump "will stop illegal immigration by building a wall on our southern border that Mexico will pay for." But that footage is of a Spanish enclave in Morocco, Politifact has found.
The footage actually shows Moroccans crossing the border into Melilla and was shown on Italian network RepubblicaTV in May 2014.
The Trump campaign plans to air the ad in Iowa and New Hampshire, so far buying $750,000 in the Hawkeye State and $500,000 in the Granite State, according to NBC News. This is Trump’s first televised ad of the cycle, previously saying he didn’t need them because ads on top of all of the media attention would make people “OD on Trump.” However, with less than a month until the Iowa caucus, Trump has set a budget of $2 million per week to ensure victory in early states.
Asked about the video, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told NBC News, "No s***, it's not the Mexican border but that's what our country is going to look like. This was 1,000 percent on purpose."
Lewandowski later emailed a statement that said: "The use of this footage was intentional and selected to demonstrate the severe impact of an open border and the very real threat Americans face if we do not immediately build a wall and stop illegal immigration. The biased mainstream media doesn’t understand, but Americans who want to protect their jobs and their families do."
