Controversial Trump ad no longer on the air

Major media outlets have dropped an advertisement submitted by President Donald Trump’s political team after the ad was criticized for portraying illegal immigrants as violent and dangerous. The Donald J. Trump for President committee sponsored the 30-second ad that initially aired over the weekend on NBC, Fox News, and Facebook. All three pulled the spot after receiving backlash. Facebook said users could still post the ad, but it could not be promoted. CNN refused to air the ad at all, calling it racist.

The ad shows undocumented immigrant Luis Bracamontes boasting about his murder of two police officers in 2014. Images of the caravan of Central American migrants making their way through Mexico follow. “Stop the caravan,” the ad warns. “Vote Republican.” The president posted a longer version of the ad on his Twitter feed after warning about the caravan for weeks. When reporters asked him about it on Monday, Trump said he did not know about the controversy, adding, “a lot of things are offensive.”

Close to 2,000 migrants arrived in Mexico City on Monday, still 600 miles from the nearest U.S. border. The travelers hunkered down to spend the night at a sports stadium city officials offered as shelter. The caravan size, according to current estimates, numbers about 4,000 people, down from a peak estimate of 7,000.