I'd hate to be the staffer who put together this ad for Donald Trump. It's supposed to appeal to veterans, but the person who gathered the stock video for the ad neglected to identify which veterans to feature.
Here's the image:
Donald Trump put a new veteran-focused campaign ad up on Facebook today, but it was pulled down before most anyone could see it after commenters pointed out that the footage clearly depicted Russian veterans wearing the distinctive St. George ribbon and pins with the Communist hammer and sickle.
Above you see the original ad. “Our great veterans are being treated terribly,” Trump intones his most serious voice. “The corruption in the Veteran’s administration, the incompetence is beyond. We will stop that.” The ad then cuts away from Trump sitting at his desk and to footage of faceless decorated veterans who happen to be wearing a distinctive orange-and-black ribbon.
You see it there pinned to the nice man’s lapel. This Washington Post article from 2014 explains the history of the ribbon, which is traditionally “associated with Russian military valor” but recently has come to be adopted by right wing Russian separatists.
This follows the ad where Trump featured migrants in Morocco, which he claimed were from Mexico. He needs to tell a few staffers they're fired!
