Debra Messing 'Ashamed' NBC Aired Racist Trump Ad

The actress and activist apologized to Will & Grace fans because the network she works for aired an inflammatory, inaccurate, and racist ad.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

November 05 2018 1:12 PM EST

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Actress and activist Debra Messing excoriated NBC, the network that airs her show Will & Grace, on Twitter for running a racist, anti-immigration ad paid for by Donald J. Trump for President.

"I want you to know that I am ashamed that my network aired this disgusting racist ad," the outspoken advocate for the rights of marginalized people tweeted.

— (@)

The ad, which Trump tweeted, focused on video of Luis Bracamontes, a Mexican man who was deported but returned and killed two California deputies.

"I'm going to kill more cops soon," Bracamontes boasted in court at that time. The video in the ad was accompanied by text that placed the blame for the death of the officers on Democrats.

"Democrats let him stay," the ad contends, falsely adding that Democrats "let him into our country" and "let him stay."'

In fact, George W. Bush was in office when Bracamontes entered the country for the last time. And it was Sheriff Joe Arpaio (a flunky of Trump's who was the recipient of a presidential pardon) who released Bracamontes "for reasons unknown."

The ad juxtaposes Bracamontes's boasting about killing officers with footage of immigrants flooding the United States border to stoke fears Trump and conservatives have drummed up over the migrant caravan from Central America currently making its way through Mexico.

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Since tweeting her embarrassment that NBC ran a racist ad, Messing has continually posted about getting out the vote. She's also tweeted about Trump's racism, gun violence, and voter suppression.