The political committee working to elect more Senate Republicans continues to push racist and anti-immigrant tropes, as seen in a new ad pointed out by immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice. Zachary Mueller notes the National Republican Senate Committee’s (NRSC) ad features the wording “Democrats are destroying America” and images of Black migrants at the southern border.
No dog-whistling there, it’s full-blown racism. And there are plenty of corporate dollars funding NRSC’s BS. You might even recognize some of the brands in your own home.
The Washington Post had reported just last month that while companies like Google and Verizon had claimed that they were boycotting individual Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn the rightful results of the 2020 presidential election, they were still “giving to Republican committees,” like NRSC. That committee is in turn pushing anti-immigrant shit like this. One of the companies listed below, Google, has in the past pledged support for pro-immigrant programs like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.
“NRSC has an ad stating their case for retaking the Senate in 22' ‘Democrats are destroying America’ it starts, followed by a laundry list of racist & xenophobic dog-whistles, reminding us of that dangerous & misleading politics of division is all they have on offer,” Mueller tweeted on Tuesday. In September, he’d noted NRSC ads “that warned of an alleged Biden effort set on ‘housing ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS in your neighborhood!’” Those ads ran on—you guessed it—Facebook. But, hey, a simple name change totally fixes it all, right?
“The NRSC ran some of these ads on behalf of Senator Chuck Grassley, who will face a potentially competitive Senate reelection campaign,” Mueller continued. Grassley recently boasted of hosting an “Iowa lunch” for colleagues, but made no mention of the immigrant workers in Iowa who helped make that lunch happen. God forbid he say something, I dunno, truthful about immigrants to the base.
“Currently led by Senator Rick Scott (FL), the NRSC is a powerful party committee that sets the tone for Senate campaigns,” Mueller noted. “They will help fundraise and provide air cover for Republicans in all the competitive Senate races in 2022. The tone and messages they amply thus have significant implications.”
Scott himself was one of eight Senate Republicans to vote to overturn the 2020 election, yet here he is leading a political committee still receiving financial support from corporations that claimed they were stopping donations to seditionist Republicans. It’s hard to make shameless right-wing politicians feel shame. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying to shame them. So should the companies helping fund this racist shit.