As US President Donald Trump continues extensive election campaigning, his team seems to be assuring that he remains in controversy as ever.
The repeated use of stock images from other countries for pro-Trump advertisements raises question whether it is accidental as they follow a pattern of featuring clips from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus.
Here are the five times when Trump's team messed up his election campaign ad:
- America First Action group last week released a video titled "Pandemic Tax", which features images and clippings from other countries. Released first in Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the ad warns of higher taxes on every income group. The video shows a stock footage available on Pond5 website from a Russian resident. Another clip of an old woman with text "HIGHER TAXES ON MIDDLE CLASS RETIREMENT" is available on Getty Images under tags "Belarus Videos".
- In September, a 30-second ad titled "GREAT AMERICAN COMEBACK" argued that democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden would "kill countless American businesses, jobs and our economic future" if he won the White House. The video production company PromZone Media Group had revealed that the clip of warehouse footage around the 15-second mark was actually from a Ukrainian wallpaper warehouse and the footage of the woman seen seconds later is also from Ukraine. In the same video, the footage of frustrated man using a computer was from Italy.
- Last month, a 30-second video released as part of reelection campaign draws contrast between the ways of Trump and Biden in handling the protests and creating jobs. However, the campaign has used the footage from Vice President Mike Pence's 2019 visit to Gerdau Ameristeel mill.
- Another in the series of campaign videos is 'Catalina and Madeline', a four minute 58 second video of two first-generation Hispanic American sisters warning fellow voters of "Biden's America." With caption 'Freedom is at stake in November', the video had footage of protests along Roger de Flor Street in Barcelona, Spain, in October 2019, to illustrate the US under a Biden presidency.
- During 2016 #MakeAmericaGreatAgain campaign, Trump had tweeted a photo with Nazi soldiers. The image comprising Trump's face, dollars, the White House, the stars and stripes from American flag and Nazi soldiers. The soldiers Photoshopped behind a red stripe seemed to be members of the country's armed forces but a closer look revealed the SS eagle insignia on their arms and one of the troops wearing the dot camouflage print was associated with the Nazis. The incident was blamed on a young intern, though.
