RNC's chief strategist Sean Spicer's Tweet faced criticism, and he deleted it fewer than two hours after posting. | AP Photo RNC official tweets about 'Willie Horton-style' ad, then reconsiders Sean Spicer has deleted his tweet, which linked to a news report connecting the new RNC ad to a racially charged attack ad from the 1980s.

A Republican National Committee official on Monday tweeted out a link to a news report labeling a new Republican advertisement a "Willie Horton-style Attack" before deleting the tweet from his personal account.

The tweet from Sean Spicer, the RNC's chief strategist, linked to a Roll Call report titled "Exclusive: Republicans Launch Willie Horton-style Attack." The advertisement, criticizes Tim Kaine for his past legal representation of defendants convicted of violent crimes, as well as his opposition to the death penalty during his time as governor of Virginia.




The "Willie Horton" reference in the story refers to a 1988 presidential campaign ad that George H. W. Bush's campaign used to attack Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. The Bush ad featured Horton, who committed violent crimes while on a plan that allowed prisoners a temporary release. The reference to Horton, a black man, has been widely criticized for tapping into racial anxiety and racism. Indeed, the term "Willie Horton" is widely used as political shorthand for an attack with racial undertones.

Spicer's Tweet faced criticism, and he deleted it fewer than two hours after posting.

Asked why he took down the post, Spicer sought to distance himself from the "Willie Horton" label, saying the wording was "literally 100 percent Roll Call's description."

"Roll Call got an exclusive look at the ad, as we oftentimes do with an organization, and when they saw the ad and published it I instinctively pushed a tweet from the story," Spicer said.

Spicer is also now criticizing Roll Call's description as inaccurate and said the RNC has requested a correction. "The ad's goal and purpose is to shed light on the type of nefarious people that Tim Kaine has gotten out and defended," he said. "Literally, it has nothing to do with Michael Dukakis."

The Roll Call report remains unchanged.

An identical tweet from the Republican National Committee account stayed up for more than an hour after Spicer's tweet came down, but as of 2:45 p.m. it had been deleted.