An immigrant rights group released a new “American Nightmare” television ad on Monday blasting Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie for running “misleading ads conflating immigration and gang violence,” and urging voters to “reject hate” when they go to the polls next week.
The minute-long spot from the Latino Victory Fund depicts children waking up rattled from a nightmare in which they are chased through neighborhoods by a truck decorated with a Gillespie campaign sticker and that is flying a Confederate flag.
“Is this what Donald Trump and Ed Gillespie mean by the American dream?” the narrator says over television footage from the Charlottesville protests over the summer that attracted tiki torch-toting neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members.
Chris Leavitt, Gillespie’s campaign manager, said the Northam camp and its allies “have launched a desperate smear campaign against Ed in the closing days of this election” in an attempt to link the Republican with groups he opposes.
“Now his allies have reached a new low with a disgusting, vile television ad seeking to instill fear in our children with that same imagery,” Mr. Leavitt said. “This is not an attack on Ed Gillespie anymore. This is an all-out attack on the people of Virginia. This latest ad gives a clear indication of just what Ralph Northam and his national Democratic allies think of all of us, and it’s sickening.”
Mr. Gillespie is running against Democrat Ralph Northam in a tight race, according to polls, and the Republican has warned in the waning weeks of the campaign that loose immigration policies have strengthened MS-13 and other violent gangs in Virginia.
“In a desperate attempt to become Virginia’s next governor, Ed Gillespie has eagerly embraced racism and xenophobia. We refuse to stand by as bullies like Gillespie slander our families, call us ’thugs’ and ’criminals,’ and portray hard-working immigrants as a national security threat,” said Cristóbal J. Alex, president of Latino Victory Fund. “Ed Gillespie has made it abundantly clear what he thinks of Latinos and immigrants, so on Election Day, our community will make it clear how we feel about him.”
The ad started running Monday in both English and Spanish.
It comes ahead of a Gillespie event Monday in Northern Virginia that is being headlined by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the son of Cuban-immigrants who became the face of a bipartisan push to overhaul the immigration system in 2013 that included a path to citizenship for most illegal immigrants.
The push ultimately flamed out and came back to haunt Mr. Rubio during his presidential bid in 2016 after more GOP primary voters embraced President Trump’s hardline on immigration.
Mr. Rubio, however, outperformed Mr. Trump in key parts of Virginia — including Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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