The Most Racist Thing I Saw Today Was This Campaign Ad Attacking the Squad and Kaepernick

It’s from Jeff Sessions’ primary opponent.

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Since announcing a bid for his old Senate seat, ex–Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a racist without portfolio, has been relatively quiet. Into the void has stepped Rep. Bradley Byrne, one of Sessions’ opponents in Alabama’s March primary. Last week, Byrne unveiled a campaign ad that managed to exploit the legacy of his dead Army veteran brother to attack Rep. Ilhan Omar, the “Squad,” and blackballed NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, all in the name of patriotism. 

In the ad, Byrne, staring into a flickering fire outside his family’s farmhouse, reports feeling a sense of pain when he hears Omar, a Muslim congresswoman, “cheapening 9/11” (she never did) and Kaepernick and other “entitled athletes dishonoring” the American flag (they didn’t) and the Squad “attacking America” (never happened). The message? In an interview last week with Fox & Friends after the ad came out, Byrne fell back on euphemism, saying the “country is at a crossroads” and adding that he wanted to “help the president take the country in the right direction.” But of course that’s not what the spot is really saying. It’s saying that Black and Brown people are terrifying; please elect this mournful white guy who wears plaid and hangs out on a log telling scary stories to himself by a campfire. He’s already out-Sessionsing Sessions. 

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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