Trump's First Ad Does Not Make America Great

Donald Trump has kicked off the New Year with his first campaign ad of the 2016 election cycle. Instead of using his seemingly bottomless funds to create something truly attention-grabbing, however, Trump sticks to the same old xenophobic message he's been delivering. The 30-second focuses on two proposals that are now central to his platform: a ban of all Muslims and a wall at the Mexican border. As an abridged version of his main message, Trump's first campaign ad, called "Great Again," once again reiterates exactly how not to make American again.

Last week, Trump announced that he would start allocating at least $2 million a week towards campaign advertisements, "and perhaps substantially more than that." He told reporters in Omaha:

I'm going to be doing big ads in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and they're going to be very substantial. And I think they're very well done.

On Monday, Trump rolled out his first one, which he says he's "very proud of." His very first TV spot addresses terrorism and illegal immigration, two key issues that Trump has vowed to tackle in order to make America great again. However, just as he's completely missed the point in the past, the ad once again embodies a hateful, discriminatory spirit that would do nothing to make this country great. In fact, Trump's new ad addresses two ways to make America pretty horrible.

After the standard "I'm Donald Trump and I approve this message" line, Trump jumps right in to slamming President Obama and Hillary Clinton regarding their stances on terrorism.

The politicians can pretend it's something else, but Donald Trump calls it "radical Islamic terrorism."

As many ads do, Trump's spot uses subliminal messaging to sway viewers. The above message is superimposed on top of photos of San Bernardino shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik as ominous music plays, reminding the viewer that there is danger and a solution is needed.

It then segues into his proposed ban of all Muslims entering the U.S., though this time it's emphasized as a "temporary ban." This message is superimposed over images of ISIS, so that the viewer associates all Muslims with the terror organization. It is a grossly misleading and hateful suggestion, one that Trump is pretty much building his campaign upon.

This leads to the very aggressive and visual yet completely vague promise that Trump will "cut the head off of ISIS." Again, the violent imagery that the line conjures seems to be meant to remind viewers of the violence of terrorism and that extreme measures are therefore justified, and Trump is just the man for the job. However, he does not address how exactly he would combat ISIS.

The next point addresses the infamous wall that Trump has been touting since he announced his presidential candidacy.

He'll stop illegal immigration by building a wall on our southern border that Mexico will pay for.

The video ends with a clip of Trump emphatically delivering his slogan, "We will make America great again." Once again, he completely misses the point: dividing the country based on religion or race would do the exact opposite of making America great.

In addition to a whole slew of real and concrete damages, from compromising foreign diplomacy to straining our own economy, Trump's keep-them-out proposals are wholly against the principles of America, which has always been proud to be a melting pot founded upon the notion that all men are created equal and with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What Trump is doing is not making America great again, but turning it into a different, and worse, country entirely.

Images: Donald J. Trump