Donald Trump’s ugliness has somehow brought out the best in political advertising—advertising against him, that is. He goes so low that some of the most potent criticisms of him—attacks, even—are made by going high, by pointing to people who are better than him, by calling out ideals of togetherness and sacrifice and openness and generosity. And in this season of really beautiful, moving ads and videos, VoteVets has come out with one of the best.
It opens with Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant words: “They’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems.”
Then it goes to Renzo Benites, born in Peru: “Many things about the Army I’m proud of. Serving the country which I’m about to become a citizen of. I’m very proud of that.”
And then a history lesson on immigrants in the U.S. armed forces: Alexander Hamilton. The Marquis de Lafayette. John Paul Jones and John Barry. “In the Civil War, almost none lost more than the Irish Brigade. More than 123,000 WWI immigrant soldiers were naturalized. 300,000 immigrants served in WWII … Today, more than 600,000 U.S. veterans are immigrants.”
Then, quickly, images and names and countries of origin: Frank Miskena, born in Baghdad, served in Iraq. Daisy Baez, born in the Dominican Republic, First Cavalry Division. Wayne Leong, born in Hong Kong, served in Iraq. Arturo Ibarra, born in Mexico, served in Iraq. Juliana Anderson, born in Micronesia, served in Iraq. Jairo (Jay) Navas, born in Colombia, naturalized at 18, served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hanif Sangi, born in Pakistan, served in Afghanistan. Samir Joseph Hamel, born in Morocco, served in Iraq.
And … you knew this was coming, right? But it’s still powerful. An image of a coffin being taken off a plane with the words “Some make the ultimate sacrifice” and then a cut to Khizr and Ghazala Khan with the words “yet are treated like enemies at home,” and a final image of their fallen son Humayun.
The video’s closing message: “Millions gave their service for us. We proudly lift our voices for them.”
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