In a clip that left-wing critics have compared to the infamous Willie Horton attack ad, President Trump blamed Democratic policies for allowing convicted cop killer Luis Bracamontes to illegally enter, re-enter, and stay in the country. The video draws broad and largely illogical comparisons between Bracamontes — who repeatedly entered the country illegally — and the vast migrant caravan from Honduras still thousands of miles away from the U.S.
On the facts, Trump is incorrect. Joe Arpaio, the Republican sheriff pardoned by Trump himself for criminal contempt of court, actually freed Bracamontes “for reasons unknown” after an arrest for drug charges in 1998 after he had illegally entered the U.S. multiple times. Technically, both Republican and Democratic failures led to Bracamontes’ rampage, but rather than focusing on facts, Trump is betting on videos like these baiting Democrats into overstepping on immigration rhetoric in the final days before the midterms.
