Trump Campaign Ad Puts Border Militia on Par With US Enforcement Agencies

So, the Trump campaign just released its first general election campaign ad. The focus of the ad is “law and order,” specifically, border security. You can see the thirty second ad here.

One thing that’s obviously disturbing is the automatic labeling of illegal border crossers as “terrorists.” He’s something even more disturbing, though. The ad shows six or seven scenes in a row of American agencies engaged in border enforcement. You see scenes of police or border agents, as well as U.S. helicopters. Then, if you notice, the consecutive last two  frames shows a U.S. border patrol agent with a detainee, then segues to an image of a Minuteman, one of those self-appointed mercenaries, standing guard to “secure the border” for America and “keep our families safe.” (The Minutemen are readily recognizable by their camo uniforms and floppy hats.)

To frame these militia types as equivalent to U.S. law enforcement personnel, and then to end to segment with the Minuteman as the shining sentinel of freedom and America’s last line of defense — now, that’s scary.

It’s its own form of terror, in fact.