The Democratic National Committee released a video Thursday morning mocking the GOP presidential candidates as the “Retrumplican Party” on immigration policy.
The video is a mash-up of Donald Trump airing various positions on immigration reform, interwoven with other Republican presidential candidates expressing the same views.
{mosads}It’s further evidence that Democrats intend to tie Republicans to Trump’s extreme rhetoric on illegal immigration at a time when the GOP is seeking to make inroads with Hispanic voters.
The video begins with the now infamous remarks Trump made last month during his presidential launch speech, in which he said: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
It then cuts to a CNN interview with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2014, when he said: “These individuals are responsible for over 3,000 homicides and almost 8,000 sexual assaults.”
CNN anchor Candy Crowley jumped in to dispute Perry’s assertion, claiming that fact checkers determined those figures are “wildly off.”
The video then shows Trump saying he’d repeal President Obama’s executive orders on immigration, followed by clips of Perry, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all saying the same.
Democrats also sought to highlight how GOP contenders like Carly Fiorina, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and even Bush join Trump in opposing a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally.
“Donald Trump has a lot of thoughts about immigration,” the video says. “But his ideas are running the party.”
In an interview on CNN on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton similarly sought to tie the Republican presidential field to Trump on immigration, saying “they are all in the same general area” on the issue.
On Wednesday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus reportedly spoke with Trump and asked him to tone down his rhetoric.
But Trump has refused to back away from his remarks, even as multiple business partners have severed ties with him.
“Illegal immigrants coming in are causing tremendous problems, in terms of crime, in terms of murder, in terms of rape, in terms of lots of other things,” Trump said in a CNN interview on Wednesday night.
Trump has seen his support jump in the polls since launching his presidential bid last month. He’s in second place nationally, according to two recent polls.