Trump 2024 Ad Claiming U.S. ‘Decline’ Under Biden Uses Images Taken During Trump’s Presidency

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign paid to promote an ad on Facebook last week that used dystopian images to paint a dire picture of a U.S. in “decline” under President Joe Biden. Just one problem, two of the key images used in the ad turned out to be from Trump’s time in office.

Forbes technology reporter Matt Novak highlighted the major campaign gaffe on Wednesday in an article uncovering the provenance of two of the images used by Trump’s campaign in the dire looking ad.

“Were you not better off before Biden?” asks the text of the Facebook post, which accompanied the ad.

“Joe Biden is officially running for re-election. Under his ‘leadership,’ America is a nation in decline. Our border is wide open, our enemies openly mock us, and inflation is the highest it’s been in 40 years. But ???????????? have a choice. Biden and the radical Democrats’ tin pot dictatorship doesn’t have to be America’s reality. With your support, we’ll overcome the ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? Biden and his special interest donors are spending to influence our elections and win back the White House,” the text continues, concluding:

Please contribute to ensure the launch of Biden’s reelection campaign ????????????????????????????????????.

The ad then shows an image of Biden’s head in the middle of a collage, including photos of a burning police car on one side and people who appear to be migrants crossing a river on the other side.

Screenshot / Facebook ads

“The first thing people will probably notice in the ad is a photo of a burning cop car. But that photo was taken in Chicago, Illinois on May 30, 2020. Trump was president from January 20, 2017 until January 20, 2021, which means the image you’re seeing happened on Trump’s watch,” Novak writes regarding the burning cop car. Novak further explains that the photo was taken just days after video of the police killing of George Floyd become public on May 25th, sparking months of protests and violence in the U.S.

The other main image in the Trump ad, Novak reports, was taken on by photographer Moises Castillo and was distributed by the Associated Press. The AP captioned the photo, “Central American migrants cross the Suchiate River from Mexico to Guatemala, near Tecun Uman, Guatemala, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020.”

“That’s right—apparently these people aren’t even traveling north to the U.S. They’re heading south,” Novak adds, pointing out another misleading aspect of the ad.

The ad, which ran in late April, can still be viewed in Facebook’s Ad Library, and was targetted mostly to users in Florida, Texas, and California.

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