Fox News refused to air an ad supporting Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis because it showed him in his military uniform and carrying a rifle.
According to Newsmax, Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis political action committee, released a 30-second ad on immigration. The ad maintains that the Biden administration’s open-borders policies have turned America into a “warzone.”
“Armed incursions. Human trafficking. Death,” the voiceover says in the ad.
“Open borders means every state is a border, bringing crime where we live and lethal drugs in our schools,” the commercial continues.
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The ad then notes, “The only candidate fighting to secure our border now is the only candidate who served in a warzone.”
The ad then cuts to a photo of DeSantis in his combat uniform and holding what appears to be an M-4 rifle while standing in front of a Humvee. DeSantis served in Iraq in 2007 as a Navy lieutenant, serving alongside SEAL Team 1, Newsmax reported.
Fox News, however, produced a “sanitized version” of the commercial, Newsmax reported.
The Fox News version featured a “bust shot of DeSantis in uniform minus the weapon.” The replacement ad depicted DeSantis’ head shot while clad in his white Navy uniform.
Fox also cut a part of the clip that showed heavily armed Mexican cartel thugs as gunfire erupted in the background.
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The network instead offered “firearm-free footage” of the drugrunners.
Newsmax attributed Never Back Down with sharing news of the watered-down version Fox ran, but did not obtain a comment from the PAC about the commercial swap.
Newsmax did not indicate whether Fox offered a comment as well.
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