Donald Trump's new vicious jab at Jeb Bush is reminiscent of one of the most infamous attack ads
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday attacked former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) through the release of an Instagram video that targeted Bush on immigration.
Trump posted a video to his Instagram account that spliced together images of alleged murders committed by immigrants living in the US without permission with Bush's comments in 2014 that many immigrants illegally come into the US out of an "act of love" for their families.
The Bush campaign immediately shot back at Trump, accusing him of in the past supporting "liberal, soft-on-crime politicians." It blasted Trump's immigration plan, which it said would "violate the constitution."
"Jeb Bush has a record of cracking down on violent criminals as Governor of Florida, while Donald Trump has up until it was convenient supported liberal, soft-on-crime politicians," Bush spokesperson Kristy Campbell told Business Insider. "His immigration plan is not conservative, would violate the constitution and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, which he will likely attempt to pay for through with massive tax hikes."
Bush made the "act of love" comment during an April 2014 event. He said immigrants who illegally crossed into the US "because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family" should be treated differently than immigrants, for example, who overstay their visas.
Here's the fuller context of those 2014 remarks:
"There are means by which we can control our border better than we have. And there should be penalties for breaking the law But the way I look at this - and I'm going to say this, and it'll be on tape and so be it. The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn't come legally, they come to our country because their families - the dad who loved their children - was worried that their children didn't have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's an act of love. It's an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families."
Some political observers noted that Trump's ad employed some of the same visual tropes that Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, used to attack Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential campaign.
In the famous "Willie Horton" ad, a political action committee aligned with Bush accused Dukakis of being soft on crime during his tenure in Massachusetts. Horton, a convicted felon, had been released from a Massachusetts prison on a weekend furlough program, during which time he escaped and raped a woman. The ad was credited with raising fears about Dukakis' record, though critics suggested it was racially motivated.
Last week, Trump released a video showing a portion of a 2013 interview with former First Lady Barbara Bush. In the interview, the former First Lady said that she did not think Jeb Bush should run for president, saying that America "has had enough Bushes." The former First Lady has since said that she has changed her mind, and supports her son's bid.
Bush isn't the only candidate Trump has targeted with the ads.
Earlier this month, Trump posted a video splicing together images of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton having fun with brutal images of ISIS was waging war in Iraq and Syria.