President Donald Trump’s campaign ad released Monday tries to show his efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and promises to “make America great again.”
With Trump facing criticism for reacting too slowly to the spread of COVID-19, the ad revisits Trump’s decision to cut off travel from China. NBC News suggested banning incoming travel from China was “racist” at the time.
CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta also called Trump “xenophobic” for suggesting that COVID-19 was “foreign” in origin and criticized Trump’s second ban on travel – this time, travel from Europe – saying it would “disrupt” the airline industry.
In addition to criticism for the travel ban, Trump has been criticized by former Vice President Joe Biden for “xenophobia” when Trump called the coronavirus a “foreign virus.” Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar called it “racist” to refer to COVID-19 as the “Chinese coronavirus” after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called it that March 9 on Twitter. (RELATED: White House Skips Coronavirus Briefing For First Time Since Easter. Trump’s Tweet Could Explain Why)
The campaign ad illustrates how Trump publicly addressed coronavirus at his State of the Union address, saying, “My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat.” (RELATED: Trump Approval Ratings Crash Amid Coronavirus Panic)
“We built the greatest economy the world has ever seen, and we’re going to do it again,” Trump is heard saying as images of industry workers play, paired with the text “the greatest comeback story is written.”
President Donald Trump speaks during the coronavirus daily briefing at the White House on April 21, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day, the president met with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Oval Office to discuss COVID-19 testing. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
News clips of Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom are used to show support for Trump’s actions against the pandemic as the president says, “Together, we’re beating back the invisible threat.”
The ad concludes with Trump vowing, “With the grace of God, we will win this war and we will win this war quickly and we will make America great again.”