It’s been alarming to see so many Republicans use ISIS propaganda in their campaign ads. But Rep. Tom Cotton (R), the frontrunner in Arkansas’ U.S. Senate race, appears to have taken the tactic to a whole new level.
In recent months, most of the Republicans incorporating ISIS propaganda into their commercials have relied on the ISIS video in which James Foley was murdered. Foley’s family has pleaded not to even watch the footage, but in a few cases, politicians on the right have ignored those wishes.
But Andrew Kaczynski has uncovered an even more outrageous example.
An ad from Republican Arkansas Senate candidate Tom Cotton about his military experience and national security issues uses footage from an ISIS propaganda video as B-roll.Cotton’s ad, “Decisions,” which came out on Oct. 13, highlights the “tough decisions” Cotton would have to make as a senator about ISIS, the militant group that controls parts of Syria and Iraq, and cites Cotton’s work as an Army Ranger.The ad about ISIS uses footage directly from the group — a 55-minute long ISIS video, “Flames of War,” which was professionally made and features graphic content that includes a mass execution of a group of men who fall into a ditch.
The right-wing congressman claims in the ad that he’ll “make America safer” — and apparently he’ll do so by paying money to help disseminate footage from a terror video that ISIS is desperate to disseminate.
I honestly never thought I’d see the day. Far-right politicians, eager to seem “tough” on terror, are deliberately putting terrorists’ propaganda on the air, on purpose, to advance their personal ambitions.
Keep in mind, there’s no shortage of available footage that the Republican campaign could have included in the commercial. There’s plenty of background video of combat in the Middle East, for example, which Cotton could have used to make the same point.
But, no. Cotton instead used ISIS propaganda, putting the same footage on the air that the terrorists want to see on the air.
Forget basic human decency for a moment. Which strategic genius in Cotton Campaign HQ decided this was a good idea with the election season nearly over?
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."