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NBC Pulls Political Ad After Getting Blowback

Nov 5, 2018  •  Post A Comment

After NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” airing of a controversial political ad triggered a firestorm, the network made the decision not to run the ad. CNN, which refused to run the ad, reports that the ad has also been rejected by Fox News.

The anti-immigrant ad from the Trump campaign sparked a backlash from critics who say the 30-second spot is racist.

NBC and Fox News both released statements today saying they will no longer air the ad.

A spokesperson for NBC is quoted saying: “After further review we recognize the insensitive nature of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our properties as soon as possible.”

Subsequently, Marianne Gambelli, president of advertisement sales for Fox News, told CNN in a statement: “Upon further review, Fox News pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network.”

“The advertisement aims to motivate Republican turnout by vilifying a group of migrants walking toward the US southern border, wrongly portraying them as invaders and criminals,” CNN reports. “Many viewers were stunned when it aired during ‘Sunday Night Football,’ which is one of the most watched programs on television, regularly averaging more than 10 million viewers.”

The report cites sources who are familiar with the situation saying the ad was not submitted to either CBS or ABC.

“CNN had previously determined that the Trump campaign’s advertisement was racist and declined to sell airtime for it,” the CNN report notes. “On Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. complained on Twitter that CNN ‘refused to run’ the advertisement.”

In a tweet issued in response, a CNN spokesperson said: “CNN has made it abundantly clear in its editorial coverage that this ad is racist. When presented with an opportunity to be paid to take a version of this ad, we declined. Those are the facts.”

Below is a segment about the ad posted by CNN …

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