Andrew Thomas, a republican candidate for Governor of Arizona, has begun a televised ad campaign targeting illegal immigrants, the “gay lobby,” and liberal judges. The ad, which runs only thirty seconds, ends with a image of the Mexican flag shaped like the state of Arizona with a circle with a line through it over the image, symbolizing that Mexicans are not allowed in the state.
Thomas’ ad has raised concerns that it may cross the line of political rhetoric and into abject racism. Fox 10 in Arizona tried to reach out to Thomas for comment, but the gubernatorial candidate responded with a canned statement.
“I am pleased to report my campaign has received a very strong, positive response to my new campaign ad,” the statement read. “Voters can see I am the one true conservative running for Governor, someone who will stand up and fight for them.”
Thomas is one of six candidates for the highest office in Arizona, and even his competition is befuddled by the ad.
“To say I’m going to draw a big Mexican flag, and I’m going to say all Mexicans are bad, or all of Mexico is bad, is something that is a bad omission, and something I would never want the Governor of Arizona to say,” said Christine Jones, another candidate running in Arizona.
Even more perplexing is Thomas’ comment on the “gay agenda.”
“I’m not quite sure how the gay lobby gets into the whole immigration focus of this ad in the first place,” said candidate Ken Bennett.
Current Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer is not seeking re-election after a tumultuous two terms that saw her became famous for sticking her finger in President Obama’s face during a presidential visit to the state in 2012. Also during her time in office, Brewer was forced to veto a state bill that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against certain groups claiming religious rights after the bill met with public–and national–outcry.
The immigration platform is an important issue in the state of Arizona, and state conservatives are at the forefront of the border battle. Recent busloads of immigrants from Texas were turned away and redirected to southern California, where they were once again sent away. The treatment of these immigrants–many of them children–has even reached the Vatican where the Pope has called for compassion. As reported on The Inquisitr , an Arizona republican Adam Kwasman mistook a group of YMCA camper s for immigrants and tweeted an image calling it an “abrogation of the rule of law.”
With such a hot button topic currently burning so bright in the state of Arizona, Andrew Thomas’ ad comes off as racist and in very poor taste, no matter what side of the issue you are on.