The ad began airing two weeks ago and already was being phased out for a new one, James said, when a left-leaning blog and then the liberal advocacy group Progress Michigan brought attention to the image on Monday. It is briefly shown on a bulletin board in a school hallway while James talks off-screen about failing schools. He said the scene is from stock footage.
Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said ensuring that symbols of hate speech and genocide are not in political ads “should be a pretty basic thing to figure out.”
“His team is either too lazy to spot check their ads or they’re willfully pushing out this type of imagery,” he said. “Either way, it’s a problem and shows James’ lack of preparedness for the United States Senate.”
James, who is Black, said implying that he supports racism is an “indication of how low people are willing to go” to get Stabenow re-elected to a fourth term.
“I absolutely do not approve of hatred or bigotry in any form,” he said.
Stabenow’s campaign did not comment on the ad.
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Follow David Eggert on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00 . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/David%20Eggert .
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