Republican John James, running to unseat Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, was forced to apologize for a Nazi swastika appearing in his campaign ad. He says it was an “error” and the campaign used stock footage but admits he should have caught it before the ad ran.
“I need to fess up and admit this was a terrible error on our part,” James said. “It’s my responsibility to stand and denounce hatred and bigotry and take responsibility for that error and omission.”
That was Monday.
On Tuesday, President Trump tweeted his endorsement, calling James “a star,” and adding, “I hope the voters see it.”
What voters saw on Monday was only for a split second, but screenshots posted to Twitter made clear there was a swastika in the ad.
And while James is publicly apologizing, he’s less publicly using the embarrassing revelation a swastika appeared in his first general election campaign ad to fundraise, as these tweets show:
The Detroit Free Press reports some Democrats don’t believe the swastika in the ad was a mistake.
“Jen Strayer Eyer, a veteran Democratic political consultant in Ann Arbor, posted on Facebook Monday, saying that, ‘There is no way that swastika was just there and nobody noticed it while filming. That was an intentional subliminal message. Don’t doubt that for a second.’
Eyer was not the only one to doubt James.
“Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said ensuring that symbols of hate speech and genocide are not in political ads ‘should be a pretty basic thing to figure out,'” the Associated Press reports.
“His team is either too lazy to spot check their ads or they’re willfully pushing out this type of imagery,” he said. “Either way, it’s a problem and shows James’ lack of preparedness for the United States Senate.”
More responses via Twitter: