Donald Trump defends distorting Moroccan border clip in Mexico TV ad assault
US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has come under fire for using misleading footage in his first ever TV ad campaign, further bolstering a campaign which has been light on factually correct claims.
The ad, which first launched on Monday, saw the businessman turned GOP frontrunner reiterate his most controversial pronouncements, including a temporary ban on all Muslim immigrants and construction of a giant wall at the Mexican border.
The minute long piece, however, featured footage of Morocco's border with the Spanish-owned enclave of Mellila in order to gain access to what is essentially the European Union, according to scrutiny from Politfact.
The footage misrepresented those storming the border as Mexicans trying to enter the USA, a narrative Trump has reaped in the early stages of his controversial campaign.
A statement issued by Trump's team was issued in response: "The use of this footage was intentional and selected to demonstrate the severe impact of an open border and the very real threat Americans face if we do not immediately build a wall and stop illegal immigration.
"The biased mainstream media doesn't understand, but Americans who want to protect their jobs and families do."
Despite dominating most media discourse Trump ‘doesn’t want to take any chances’ of falling behind his rivals and so will splurge around $2m a week on television adverts in the crucial early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
This still puts him at a disadvantage alongside big-spending Republican rivals with Ted Cruz having raised $4m to purchase air time over the weeks ahead and Jeb Bush pulling in $19m for TV advertising through to February.