In many ways, the 53-second ad Donald Trump tweeted at the end of last week was his closing argument ahead of the midterm elections. “Who else would Democrats let in?” the spot asks, rhetorically, as footage of a cop-killing undocumented immigrant is interspersed with footage of the migrant caravan wending its way through Central America. If the ad encapsulated Trump’s revved-up rhetoric in recent weeks—he has floated retracting birthright citizenship to combat so-called “anchor babies,” and said he instructed the military to “consider it a rifle” if migrants throw rocks at the border—then the reaction to it neatly captured the backlash: by Monday afternoon, even Fox News had pulled the spot “after further review,” though it declined to give a specific reason for doing so.

Fox’s decision comes after CNN, MSNBC, and NBC likewise elected not to air the ad. Jeff Zucker’s network rejected it out of hand, telling Axios in a statement, “CNN has made it abundantly clear in its editorial coverage that this ad is racist. When presented with an opportunity to be paid to take a version of this ad, we declined.” NBC aired it just once before pulling it (“After further review we recognize the insensitive nature of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our properties as soon as possible,” the network said in a statement), and MSNBC ran it three times. A spokesperson for Facebook, meanwhile, said the ad “violates Facebook’s advertising policy against sensational content so we are rejecting it. While the video is allowed to be posted on Facebook, it cannot receive paid distribution.” (Facebook’s decision came after the networks removed the ad, per the Daily Beast.)

For Fox News, the president’s preferred network, to reject the ad is a testament to the its forthright racism, particularly given the channel’s pro-Trump demographics. It also swiftly undercut what was fast becoming a popular talking point on the right. “CNN refused to run this ad . . . remember this on Tuesday,” Donald Trump Jr. told his followers over the weekend, before Fox followed suit. Most Trump supporters are unlikely to notice, or care, that Fox News, too, has deemed the ad beyond the pale. For those who do, it might further enrage the president’s base, strengthening their conviction that the mainstream media is seeking to silence them.

As always, Trump attempted to have it both ways, owning the message while claiming he was not the messenger. “I don’t know about it. I mean, you’re telling me something I don’t know about,” he told reporters on Monday, when asked for his reaction to news channels pulling his ad. “We have a lot of ads, and they certainly are effective, based on the numbers that we’re seeing.” When asked whether the ad was offensive, Trump was unmoved. “A lot of things are offensive. Your questions are offensive a lot of times.”

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