A campaign ad for U.S. President Donald Trump that aims to promote him as a guarantor of public safety features a photo of pro-democracy protesters in Ukraine battling with police during the 2014 Maidan events.
The ad, which appeared on the president’s official Facebook page, consists of two images: one showing Trump standing alongside law enforcement officials on the left side and citizens in helmets fighting with police on the other side.
The caption below the photos reads “Public Safety vs Chaos & Violence.”
The United States has been rocked by violent protests over police brutality against black Americans following the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota law enforcement officers.
Stores in major cities were looted and businesses destroyed while some activists and police were injured.
Though Trump has called the death of Floyd, an African American, “terrible” and said it should never have happened, he has stood by law enforcement, a key constituency.
Trump is seeking reelection in November.
However, the violence depicted in the Trump ad shows pro-democracy protesters fighting police in Ukraine in 2014 and not the recent U.S. protests.
The ad has since gone viral among Trump critics. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to media inquiries about the ad.
LOLa new Trump ad warning of chaos & violence depicts a cop being attacked by protesters......only it%27s a pic from Kyiv in 2014, when Yanukovich%27s thugs fought to quash a democratic uprising.https://t.co/VfJujT50Lm pic.twitter.com/QBrlwauo6s
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) July 22, 2020
The United States backed the Ukrainian protesters, who took to the streets after then-President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to closer ties with Russia, angering those citizens who wanted Ukraine to eventually join the European Union.
The protesters, some of whom stood for weeks in the freezing cold and faced police brutality, were admired around the world.