On Tuesday morning, the rough cut of an ad supporting Donald Trump appeared on the video-sharing service Vimeo.
The man behind the ad says he submitted the ad to the Trump campaign for approval, but a campaign spokeswoman told BuzzFeed News that the ad was not affiliated with the campaign.
Produced by a man named Philip Gatch, whose company is called Cinapse Digital Media, Gatch told BuzzFeed News that the ad was accidentally posted to Vimeo.
"I sent it to them for approval — it's a rough cut," Gatch said, referring to the Trump campaign.
When asked if he is working for the Trump campaign, Gatch replied, "Well, technically right now."
"It says rough cut on it — they're not supposed to post it," he continued. "It says rough cut, because I need to get approval on it. It's not supposed to go out."
When asked whether the campaign had solicited the ad, Gatch said he had no comment.
"I'm not commenting on this right now. I have to go talk to them," Gatch said. The video was set to private – and password-locked – minutes later.
The Trump campaign denied any knowledge of the ad.
"That's not ours, and it's not affiliated with the campaign," Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told BuzzFeed News.
"I can only speak for us," she said, when asked why Gatch said otherwise. "It's not affiliated with the Trump campaign."
The ad opens with horror-movie music playing under a distorted version of the now-infamous of clip of Jeb Bush saying that illegal immigration is “an act of love.”
Then it cuts to a graphic counting up the number of “Americans killed everyday by illegal immigrants.”
Next comes more video of Bush. As soon as he is done speaking, the ad snaps to a flickering photograph of Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, the undocumented immigrant who shot a San Francisco woman earlier this year.
Next comes a clip of Trump taking credit for making immigration an issue in the campaign. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be talking about illegal immigration," he says.
“There’s tremendous crime,” Trump says. Graphics showing the proportion of "criminal aliens" and cost to U.S. taxpayers.
“You have now found out what illegal immigration is all about,” Trump’s voice announces. “We have illegal immigrants that are treated better, by far, than our veterans.” The ad cuts to slow-motion footage of Trump campaigning in front of the U.S.S. Iowa.
“We are going to make our country so great,” Trump declares, as the music turns triumphant. “We are going to make it powerful. We are going to take care of our veterans.”
The video then shifts to a waving Trump superimposed over a fluttering American flag. “If I get elected president, I will bring it back, bigger, and better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump concludes, “and we will make America great again.”
The ad concludes with Trump's logo, followed by the hashtag "#makeamericagreatagain" and directions to Trump's website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
