When Donald Trump got up at 3 am to trash Alicia Machado, he ignored a somewhat more important matter. It seems that when Trump crafted his first positive ad of the cycle, he committed a major no-no—using footage of on-duty Phoenix police officers.
See for yourself:
x YouTube VideoAt roughly the 22-second mark, you see Trump shaking hands with Phoenix cops as he comes off the plane for his major immigration speech. But there’s one problem. They were on duty at the time. That prompted Phoenix city attorney Brad Holm to read Trump the riot act. He told Trump that this ad has to be yanked on two counts.
Phoenix, like most cities, does not allow city employees to endorse candidates while on duty. For that reason, Holm told Trump, Phoenix “does not approve—and will not approve” the use of on-duty cops’ likenesses in campaign ads for any party or candidate. This is apparently in accordance with longstanding federal law that bars city employees from engaging in partisan activity on city time. It turns out that the cops didn’t even know they were being recorded.
Holm also argued that by using police uniforms—down to the badges—in his ad, Trump was infringing on Phoenix’ exclusive right to its “protected intellectual property.” Longstanding Phoenix policy does not allow the use of its intellectual property in a campaign ad. For those reasons, Holm wants the ad yanked—and if it isn’t yanked, he has been authorized to “pursue all legal remedies,” including a lawsuit.
This is yet another case of staggering incompetence from the Trump campaign. You mean to tell me someone didn’t at least wonder if this was legal? But hey, there are more important things on Trump’s mind—like fat-shaming women.