President Donald Trump greets his daughter Ivanka Trump as she arrives to speaks during a rally at the IX Center, in Cleveland.
Camera IconPresident Donald Trump greets his daughter Ivanka Trump as she arrives to speaks during a rally at the IX Center, in Cleveland. Credit: AP

America’s TV networks pull ‘racist’ Trump campaign ad on eve of midterm election

Staff reporter, AAP and AFPNews Corp Australia Network

SOME of America’s biggest TV networks are uniting to pull a Trump campaign ad that CNN declared to be “racist”, but not before it was viewed by millions during a prime-time football match.

The controversial ad features an immigrant convicted of killing two police officers.

So far NBC and Fox News have joined CNN and Facebook in pulling the ad.

Today, one day before the US midterm elections, Donald Trump was asked if he thought the ad was offensive.

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“A lot of things are offensive. Your questions are offensive a lot of times,” Mr Trump responded.

Supporters watch a message on the video screen before a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Camera IconSupporters watch a message on the video screen before a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Credit: AP

NBC aired it on the Sunday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, which drew the highest overnight ratings of the franchise’s history.

During football season, it’s usually the most-watched show on television, often with around 20 million viewers.

NBC reporter Dylan Byers tweeted the Packers-Patriots match averaged 21 million viewers.

MSNBC also aired it on Morning Joe on Monday.

Released last week, the ad includes footage of Luis Bracamontes, a twice-deported immigrant from Mexico sentenced to death in California for killing two police officers. He’s seen smiling in a court appearance and saying, “I will break out soon and I will kill more.”

The ad says, without evidence, that “Democrats let him into our country.”

It shows masses of people shaking at a fence, apparently trying to break it down, and ended with the tagline, “Trump and Republicans are making America safe again.”

NBC said it was stopping the ad from running on Monday, after a fierce online response. “After further review we recognise the insensitive nature of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our properties as soon as possible,” NBC Universal said in a statement.

Marianne Gambelli, Fox News’ president of advertising sales, said the commercial was pulled “upon further review.”

Fox did not immediately say how many times it had aired on either Fox News Channel or the Fox Business Network.

Facebook initially ran the ad but that was an error, company spokesman Andy Stone said, because it violates the company’s policy against sensation content.

Videogram of Trump's TV ad that NBC, Fox News and Facebook have since banned. NBC aired the ad as part of Sunday Night’s Football match which is said to have attracted 21 million viewers.
Camera IconVideogram of Trump's TV ad that NBC, Fox News and Facebook have since banned. NBC aired the ad as part of Sunday Night’s Football match which is said to have attracted 21 million viewers. Credit: Supplied
Donald Trump waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally in Cleveland, Ohio.
Camera IconDonald Trump waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: AP

Facebook is still allowing its members to post the ad in their news feeds, however.

Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, tweeted that NBC News, CNN and Facebook had chosen “to stand with those ILLEGALLY IN THIS COUNTRY.”

He said the media was trying to control what you see and think.

Mr Parscale made no mention of Fox’s decision.

The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr tweeted on the weekend, noting CNN’s refusal to air the advertisement, that “I guess they only run fake news and won’t talk about real threats that don’t suit their agenda.”

CNN said through Twitter that it was made “abundantly clear” through its coverage that the ad was racist and declined to air it when the campaign sought to buy airtime.

TRUMP TELLS PROTESTOR TO ‘GO HOME TO MOMMY’

The president is making his final arguments against the Democrats in battleground areas today, saying that Democrats will take a “wrecking ball to our economy and to the future of our country.”

Ivanka Trump speaks during a campaign rally for Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Camera IconIvanka Trump speaks during a campaign rally for Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Credit: AFP

Speaking to a loud, packed crowd in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Mr Trump said “a vote for Republicans is a vote to continue our extraordinary prosperity.”

The president went on to declare that a Democratic victory would produce “a socialist nightmare.”

Trump was in Indiana to back Republican Senate candidate Rep Mike Braun, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Senator Joe Donnelly.

His time in Indiana was interrupted multiple times by protesters who chanted against Trump.

But the president was unbothered, he told one demonstrator to “go home to mommy.”

His Indiana comments echoed his election-eve op-ed for Fox News.

The piece on the president’s favorite news channel’s website urges voters to keep Republicans in power to keep the economy growing.

President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally for Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Camera IconPresident Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally for Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Credit: AFP

Trump writes that “America faces a critical choice” in Tuesday’s midterm elections and claims that, if Democrats win control of Congress, they will “take a giant wrecking ball to your economy and your future.” The message has been part of the president’s closing argument, but it has been overshadowed by his focus on hard-line immigration issues in the final days of the campaign.

Some Republicans worry that Trump’s decision not to focus more on the economy has been detrimental, especially among suburban, college-educated women who could determine control of the House.

POLLS SHOW LAST-MINUTE DEMOCRAT BOOST

President Donald Trump greets his daughter Ivanka Trump as she arrives to speak during a rally in Ohio on the day before the crucial midterm elections.
Camera IconPresident Donald Trump greets his daughter Ivanka Trump as she arrives to speak during a rally in Ohio on the day before the crucial midterm elections. Credit: AP

A nonpartisan poll has shown a big shift towards the Democrats with analysts suggesting a so-called “blue wave” could cause a major disruption for Mr Trump.

As the president rushes to complete his final pleas to Americans, hours before they head to vote, The Cook Political Report has moved nine seats away from the Republican Party.

Cook moved an open seat in Washington from “toss-up” to “lean-Democrat” and shifted a race in Pennsylvania and Georgia’s 6th district from “lean-Republican” to “toss-up”.

The Cook report shows a tight race and indicates there’s a large number of seats the GOP need to defend.

According to Cook, three races that were deemed “solid-Republican” are now “likely-Republican” — Texas’ 6th and 10th districts and West Virginia’s 2nd.

Supporters cheer a message on the video screen before a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump.
Camera IconSupporters cheer a message on the video screen before a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump. Credit: AP

The report showed only one race had shifted in favour of the Republicans — Arizona’s 1st district, from “likely Democrat” to “leaning Democrat”.

The Cook Report supports a CNN poll released today, which also indicates a Democrat advantage.

CNN shows the Democrats ahead in the House of Representatives 55 to 42 per cent. Seven in ten likely voters said they wanted to send a message to Donald Trump.

The president, unimpressed with CNN’s predictions, slammed the network in a tweet saying:

“So funny to see the CNN Fake Suppression Polls and false rhetoric. Watch for real results Tuesday. We are lucky CNN’s ratings are so low.”

The president is in fighting mode today, ahead of midterms — which have become a battle for the soul of a turbulent country.

His outspoken tweets have targeted illegal voting — threatening massive penalties for anyone who attempts to fudge the system.

With stops in Cleveland, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Indiana; then Cape Girardeau, Missouri today, it will be well after midnight (local time) before the real estate billionaire and populist showman gets back to the White House.

After that the president will only have a few hours more before polls open.

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Cleveland, Ohio.
Camera IconPresident Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: AP

“Everything we have created and achieved is at stake on election day,” Mr Trump told a cheering crowd in Cleveland, as he kicked off his furious last round of campaigning today.

“If the radical Democrats take power, they will take a wrecking ball to our economy and to our future.”

A boy looks to the stage as President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Cleveland, Ohio.
Camera IconA boy looks to the stage as President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: AP

WHO IS UP FOR ELECTION?

Donald Trump is not on the ballot in the midterms, in which the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate are up for grabs.

Voters cast their ballots for Early Voting at the Los Angeles County Registrar's Office in Norwalk, California, one day before the midterm elections.
Camera IconVoters cast their ballots for Early Voting at the Los Angeles County Registrar's Office in Norwalk, California, one day before the midterm elections. Credit: AFP

All 435 seats in the US House are up for re-election. And 35 Senate seats are in play, as are almost 40 governorships and the balance of power in virtually every state legislature.

But in a hard-driving series of rallies around the country, Mr Trump, the most polarising US president in decades has put himself at the centre of every issue.

With a characteristic mix of folksiness, bombast and sometimes cruel humour, he says voters must choose between his stewardship of a booming economy and what he claims would be the Democrats’ extreme-left policies.

The bid to make it all about Trump is a gamble, as is his growing shift from touting economic successes to bitter — critics say racist — claims that the country is under attack from illegal immigration.

In the run-up to vote Mr Trump has sent thousands of soldiers to the Mexican border, suggested that illegal immigrants who throw stones should be shot, and told Americans that the Democrats would turn the country into a crime-and-drugs black hole.

A supporter holds up a placard as US President Donald Trump at a Make America Great Again rally in Cleveland, Ohio.
Camera IconA supporter holds up a placard as US President Donald Trump at a Make America Great Again rally in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: AFP
A US Border Patrol agent takes part in a Customs and Border Protection (CBP), training exercise at the international port of entry on the US-Mexico border in Hidalgo, Texas.
Camera IconA US Border Patrol agent takes part in a Customs and Border Protection (CBP), training exercise at the international port of entry on the US-Mexico border in Hidalgo, Texas. Credit: AFP

“They want to impose socialism on our country. And they want to erase America’s borders,” Trump told a raucous rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee late on Sunday.

That worked for Trump in his own shock 2016 election victory. But the angry tone has turned off swathes of Americans, giving Democrats confidence that they could capture at least the lower house of Congress, even if the Republicans are forecast to hold on to the Senate.

OBAMA RETURNS IN FIGHT FOR US SOUL

The Democrats rolled out their biggest gun in the final days of the campaign: former president Barack Obama, who made a last-ditch appeal for an endangered Senate Democrat in Indiana.

Former President Barack Obama listens as Senator Tim Kaine speaks to Democratic volunteers.
Camera IconFormer President Barack Obama listens as Senator Tim Kaine speaks to Democratic volunteers. Credit: AP
Former President Barack Obama smiles as he greets Democratic volunteers in a surprise appearance.
Camera IconFormer President Barack Obama smiles as he greets Democratic volunteers in a surprise appearance. Credit: AP

Laying into the tangled legal scandals enveloping the Trump administration — especially the possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian operatives — Mr Obama scoffed: “They’ve racked up enough indictments to fill a football team.”

And describing the election as even more consequential than his own historic 2008 victory as the first non-white president, Mr Obama said more than politics is at stake.

“The character of our country’s on the ballot. One election won’t eliminate racism, sexism or homophobia,” Mr Obama said. “But it’ll be a start.”

Supporters of Democratic congressional candidate Ilhan Omar listen as she speaks during a meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Camera IconSupporters of Democratic congressional candidate Ilhan Omar listen as she speaks during a meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Credit: AFP

The party of a first-term president tends to lose congressional seats in his first midterm.

But a healthy economy favours the incumbent, so Mr Trump may yet defy the historical pattern.

THE BATTLEGROUNDS

Although polls generally agree on Democrats winning the House and Republicans retaining the Senate, the margins are fine and a few key races will determine whether a real upset is on the cards.

Supporters await the arrival of Republican candidate for Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis on the final day of campaigning in the midterm elections.
Camera IconSupporters await the arrival of Republican candidate for Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis on the final day of campaigning in the midterm elections. Credit: AFP

One of those is Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s challenge to Senator Ted Cruz in traditionally deep-Republican Texas.

On Monday O’Rourke depicted the contest as an epic event, saying that Texans “will decide the election of our lifetimes. They will define the future, not just of Texas, but of this country, not just this generation but every generation that follows.”

The stage is set ahead of President Donald Trump's campaign stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana, today.
Camera IconThe stage is set ahead of President Donald Trump's campaign stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana, today. Credit: AFP

Other races to watch include Republican Pete Stauber’s bid to flip a House Democratic stronghold in Minnesota, while Democrats in Florida and Georgia are aiming to become the states’ first African-American governors.

In the end, though, polls mean nothing if people don’t actually vote, so even stormy weather forecast for much of the east of the country on election day could end up having an impact.

“It’s all about turnout,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen told Fox News.

THE WILDCARD

Perhaps the biggest wildcard is how voters will react to the increasingly extreme rhetoric and politically inspired violence in the last two weeks of the campaign.

A Josh Harder for Congress campaign volunteer holds a canvass clipboard at a 'Get Out the Vote' campaign event in Modesto, California.
Camera IconA Josh Harder for Congress campaign volunteer holds a canvass clipboard at a 'Get Out the Vote' campaign event in Modesto, California. Credit: AFP

Trump has repeatedly ratcheted up his warnings about Democrats wanting to encourage the immigration of violent criminals and rapists. In speeches, he has transformed a dwindling group of a few thousand impoverished Central Americans trying to walk to the United States — though still hundreds of miles away — into a ferocious threat.

This may work with Trump’s ultraloyal base. However, misgivings rose over the president’s rhetoric after a Florida man and ardent Trump supporter was charged with sending homemade bombs to more than a dozen senior Democrats and other high profile opponents.

Democratic candidate for California's 10th Congressional District Josh Harder talks with a supporter during a 'Get Out the Vote' campaign.
Camera IconDemocratic candidate for California's 10th Congressional District Josh Harder talks with a supporter during a 'Get Out the Vote' campaign. Credit: AFP

Just after, a gunman walked into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shot 11 worshippers dead. He had allegedly lashed out online against Jews he accused of transporting Central American “invaders” into the United States — in language that echoed Trump’s own attacks on the impoverished migrants as “an invasion.”

‘I AM ON THE BALLOT’: TRUMP

Mr Trump has implored his supporters to vote, saying the media will treat the results as a referendum on his presidency.

“Even though I’m not on the ballot, in a certain way I am on the ballot,” Mr Trump said during a tele-town hall organised by his re-election campaign early this morning.

“The press is very much considering it a referendum on me and us as a movement.”

Donald Trump at a rally in Chattanooga.
Camera IconDonald Trump at a rally in Chattanooga. Credit: AFP

Mr Trump will hold his final three get-out-the-vote rallies in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri — a day after stops in Tennessee and Georgia.

“Don’t fall for the Suppression Game. Go out & VOTE. Remember, we now have perhaps the greatest Economy (JOBS) in the history of our Country!” Mr Trump tweeted.

Democrats and Republicans are imploring supporters to get out and vote.
Camera IconDemocrats and Republicans are imploring supporters to get out and vote. Credit: AP

According to polls, the Republicans are comfortably on track to retain the Senate. But with polls often too close for comfort and turnout being the crucial unknown factor, both parties are braced for potential surprises.

A voter casts their ballot in early voting in Cincinnati.
Camera IconA voter casts their ballot in early voting in Cincinnati. Credit: AP

REPUBLICAN SURVIVAL AT RISK

The midterms will decide the $US5 billion ($A7 billion) debate between Mr Trump’s take-no-prisoner politics and the Democratic Party’s supercharged campaign to end the Republican monopoly in Washington and state houses across the nation.

There are indications that an oft-discussed “blue wave” may help Democrats seize control of at least one chamber of Congress. But two years after an election that proved polls and prognosticators wrong, nothing is certain on the eve of the first nationwide elections of the Trump presidency.

“I don’t think there’s a Democrat in this country that doesn’t have a little angst left over from 2016 deep down,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, which spent more than ever before — nearly $US60 million ($A83 million) in all — to support Democratic women this campaign.

Donald Trump’s whirlwind campaign hits three states on Monday in the final effort to stop Democrats from breaking his Republicans’ stranglehold on Congress.
Camera IconDonald Trump’s whirlwind campaign hits three states on Monday in the final effort to stop Democrats from breaking his Republicans’ stranglehold on Congress. Credit: AFP

“Everything matters and everything’s at stake,” Ms Schriock said.

Should Democrats win control of the House, as strategists in both parties suggest is likely, they could derail Mr Trump’s legislative agenda for the next two years.

Former President Barack Obama has been campaigning hard for the Democratic Party.
Camera IconFormer President Barack Obama has been campaigning hard for the Democratic Party. Credit: AP

Perhaps more importantly, they would also win subpoena power to investigate the president’s many personal and professional missteps.

The elections will also test the strength of a Trump-era political realignment defined by evolving divisions among voters by race, gender and especially education.

Mr Trump’s Republican coalition is increasingly becoming older, whiter, more male and less likely to have a college degree. Democrats are relying more upon women, people of colour, young people and university graduates.

The political realignment, if there is one, could reshape US politics for a generation.

Just five years ago, the Republican National Committee reported that survival for the Republican party depended upon attracting more minorities and women.

In traditionally Republican Texas, popular Democrat Beto O’Rourke is trying to dethrone Senator Ted Cruz.
Camera IconIn traditionally Republican Texas, popular Democrat Beto O’Rourke is trying to dethrone Senator Ted Cruz. Credit: AFP, Getty Images/AFP

Instead, those voters have increasingly fled the party, turned off by Trump’s chaotic leadership style and xenophobic rhetoric. Blue-collar men, however, have embraced the unconventional president.

One of the RNC report’s authors, Ari Fleischer, acknowledged that Republican leaders never envisioned expanding their ranks with white, working-class men.

“What it means to be Republican is being rewritten as we speak,” Mr Fleischer said. “Donald Trump has the pen, and his handwriting isn’t always very good.”

A nationwide poll released by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal detailed the depth of the demographic shifts.

Democrats led with likely African-American voters (84 per cent to 8 per cent), Latinos (57 per cent to 29 per cent), voters between the ages of 18-34 (57 per cent to 34 per cent), women (55 per cent to 37 per cent) and independents (35 per cent to 23 per cent).

Among white college-educated women, Democrats enjoy a 28-point advantage: 61 per cent to 33 per cent.

Supporters at a Trump rally in Tennessee.
Camera IconSupporters at a Trump rally in Tennessee. Credit: AFP, Getty Images/AFP

On the other side, Republicans led with voters between the ages of 50 and 64 (52 per cent to 43 per cent), men (50 per cent to 43 per cent) and whites (50 per cent to 44 per cent). And among white men without college degrees, Republicans led 65 per cent to 30 per cent.

Democrats hope to elect a record number of women to Congress. They are also poised to make history with the number of LGBT candidates and Muslims up and down the ballot.

Former President Barack Obama seized on the differences between the parties in a final-days scramble to motivate voters across the nation.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has poured in $152 million to help Democrats.
Camera IconBillionaire Michael Bloomberg has poured in $152 million to help Democrats. Credit: AFP, Getty Images/AFP
Hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer has spent $166 million this midterm season.
Camera IconHedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer has spent $166 million this midterm season. Credit: AFP, Getty Images/AFP
Democrats are banking on women, African-Americans and minorities to get out and vote.
Camera IconDemocrats are banking on women, African-Americans and minorities to get out and vote. Credit: AP

Democrats need to pick up two dozen seats to claim the House majority. Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who personally invested $US110 million ($A152 million) to help Democrats this year, largely in the House, has seized on voter education levels in picking target races, according to senior aide Howard Wolfson.

“In this cycle, it seemed as if there was a disproportionately negative reaction among highly educated voters to Trump,” he said.

As a result, Mr Bloomberg’s team poured money into otherwise overlooked suburban districts in states like Georgia, Washington state and Oklahoma because data revealed voters there were better-educated.

Democrats face a far more difficult challenge in the Senate, where they are almost exclusively on defence in rural states where Mr Trump remains popular.

Democratic Senate incumbents are up for re-election, for example, in North Dakota, West Virginia, and Montana — states Mr Trump carried by 30 percentage points on average two years ago.

Voters at an early voting station in California.
Camera IconVoters at an early voting station in California. Credit: AFP, Getty Images/AFP

While Mr Trump is prepared to claim victory if his party retains Senate control, at least one prominent ally fears that losing even one chamber of Congress could be disastrous.

“If they take back the House, he essentially will become a lame-duck president, and he won’t win re-election,” said Amy Kremer, a tea party activist who leads the group Women for Trump.

“They’ll do anything and everything they can to impeach him,” she said.

Indeed, powerful Democratic forces are already pushing for Mr Trump’s impeachment, even if Democratic leaders aren’t ready to go that far.

Liberal activist Tom Steyer spent roughly $US120 million ($A166 million) this midterm season. Much of that has gone to boost turnout among younger voters, although he has produced a nationwide advertising campaign calling for Mr Trump’s impeachment.

Mr Steyer insisted that most Democrats agree.

“We’re not some fringe element of the Democratic Party. We are the Democratic Party,” he said.

Both parties have been on a major offensive to get Americans to the polling booth.
Camera IconBoth parties have been on a major offensive to get Americans to the polling booth. Credit: AFP

By election day, both sides are expected to have spent more than $US5 billion ($A7 billion), according to the Centre for Responsive Politics. The flood of campaign cash, a midterm record, has been overwhelmingly fuelled by energy on the left. Money aside, Mr Steyer said he and concerned voters everywhere have invested their hearts and souls into the fight to punish Mr Trump’s party.

“That’s what’s at stake: my heart and soul, along with everybody else’s,” he said.