NFL distances itself from controversial Trump ad

The NFL is distancing itself from President Trump’s controversial midterm elections ad, which aired during “Sunday Night Football” on NBC.

“The NFL played no role in the airing of the spot last night,” an spokesman told The Hill in a statement on Monday.

“The NFL has no approval rights regarding campaign ads,” he wrote. “That falls to the network that is selling the advertising and airing the game.”

NBC pulled the ad the day after it aired in the face of backlash.

{mosads}”After further review we recognize the insensitive nature of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our properties as soon as possible,” NBCUniversal’s spokesperson said in a statement.

The 30-second ad NBC aired was a shorter version of one Trump tweeted last week that focused, in part, on a deported Mexican man who returned to the U.S. and bragged in court about killing police officers.

The ad transitioned from the man, Luis Bracamontes, to the migrant caravan approaching the U.S.-Mexico border.

“America cannot allow this invasion,” a narrator states. “The migrant caravan must be stopped. President Trump and his allies will protect our border and keep our families safe.”

“Stop the caravan. Vote Republican,” the ad ends.

Fox News has also pulled the ad, which some have called racist and incendiary, while CNN refused to run it.

“I don’t know about it,” Trump said, when asked about the ad Monday. “We have a lot of ads. And they certainly are effective, based on the numbers that we’re seeing.” 

“A lot of things are offensive,” the president said, when a reporter pressed him about it. “Your questions are offensive a lot of times so, you know.” 

Trump and his supporters have made the 7,000 migrants approaching the U.S. border a central part of their closing arguments in their campaigns for GOP midterm candidates, even as the caravan remains hundreds of miles from the southern border.

“Let’s recognize that we have a crisis with illegal immigration,” Vice President Pence told Hill.TV in an interview that aired Monday. “The latest caravan is just the latest reminder to the American people of how much we need to address this crisis.”

“We really believe with renewed Republican leadership in the House and in the Senate, and with Republican leadership in statehouses around the country, we’ll be able to bring together the support necessary to end this crisis of illegal immigration once and for all.”