Political trump ad assailed as 'sickening,' racially divisive

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump, President of the United States of America.

"This ad, and your full approval of it, will condemn you and your bigoted legacy forever in the annals of America's history books," Al Cardenas, the Florida Republican Party's chairman, wrote on Twitter.

The online ad features Courtroom footage of Luis Bracamontes – an illegal immigrant from Mexico City in the United States.

The Central Americans Headed Through Southern Mexico en route to the U.S. border.

"Who else would Democrats let in?" asks the ad, which Trump tweeted late on Wednesday. The President Donald J. Trump and Republicans are making America Safe Again !, "a play on Trump's" Make America Great Again "slogan.

Trump's presidential re-election campaign for the ad, U.S. news media reported. The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"This is a sickening ad." Republicans everywhere should denounce it, "U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, one of Trump's most prominent Republican critics, said on Twitter Thursday.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez characterized the ad "distracting, divisive Donald at his worst." In an interview with CNN, Perez describes the ad as "fear-mongering."

Cardenas called Trump "a despicable divider, the worse social poison to afflict our country in decades."

Trump, who is taking a leadership role in legal and immigration issues, is in favor of the Republican congressional and gubernatorial candidates ahead of Tuesday's congressional elections.

Democrats are more likely to win seats in the US House of Representatives, an advantage they could use to block Trump's agenda. Republicans have a stronger chance of keeping control of the Senate, according to the opinion polls and nonpartisan forecasters.

(Graphic: A look at battleground states – https://tmsnrt.rs/2PmsO7M)

(Graphic: Can Democrats regain control of the House? – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Qdinjo)

Some Democrats, including Robert Reich, who served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, compared the 1988 "Willie Horton" ad, which supporters of the then-candidate George H.W. Bush used to great effect against Democratic rival Michael Dukakis.

Horton was a convicted murderer who went on a crime spree while on furlough from prison under a program sponsored by Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts. The ad has been criticized for emphasizing that Horton was black.

"This may be the most desperate and vile ad since Willie Horton," Reich said on Twitter. "They've resorted to fearmongering."

It is not the first time that Trump has used Bracamontes in a political ad. The man also featured in Trump's Jan. 20, 2017 inauguration.

All Reuters election coverage https://www.reuters.com/politics/election2018

(Reporting by Scott Malone, editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish)