The re-election campaign of I.S. Sen. Marco Rubio continues to link Val Demings to the Democratic establishment in his latest blast at her immigration policy.
The latest spot, entitled "Seasonal Thing" and subtitled "Val and Joe (Biden) refuse to secure the border," takes a remark Rubio's Democratic challenger made about migration at the U.S.-Mexican border and repeats it, while splicing in context from Fox News stories and remarks made by Vice President Kamala Harris.
"A record-high two million illegal immigrants have crossed the border in the past year alone, but Kamala Harris thinks 'we have a secure border' and Val Demings says the border crisis is just a 'seasonal thing,'" the campaign contended.
Harris made the "secure border" remark on Meet the Press, while Demings' remarks are split up by a jump cut.
"The crisis we are seeing at the border is nothing new," Demings asserts, before some words are elided. "It's a seasonal thing."
The "seasonal thing" phrase is repeated one more time ahead of the dramatic ending of the ad, where the graphic proclaims that Demings and Biden "refuse to secure the border."
Since Demings launched her campaign last year, Rubio's political operation has attempted to define her as a "pro-amnesty" Democrat.
"As thousands of illegal immigrants are surging over our southern border, Val Demings is blaming the founding fathers for Democrats' inability to grant amnesty to millions," Rubio's campaign said last year, as Demings objected to a GOP filibuster. "Demings would rather be a rubber stamp for (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer — just as she has been for (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi — than fight for Florida families."
When Donald Trump was President, meanwhile, Demings doubted there was even a border crisis.
"The only crisis on the border is the one that President Trump has created by falsifying reports to instill fear, imprisoning children and separating families, and failing to hire enough officers to staff ports of entry," she tweeted in 2019.
See the new Rubio ad below.
