Add this to the list of things that only a privileged white man in the United States of America could get away with: A gubernatorial candidate in Georgia is trying to out-Trump Donald Trump himself by running his campaign on a platform that promises to round up “illegals,” put them on a so-called deportation bus and send them back to Mexico.
Georgia’s primary election is on May 22, and Republican Georgia state Sen. Michael Williams—who was the Georgia co-chair for the Trump campaign—is looking to be the state’s next governor. On Tuesday, Williams released an ad touting his “Deportation Bus Tour.”
The 58-second ad features Williams alongside a school bus that has been painted gray and decorated with slogans such as “Michael Williams Deportation Bus,” “Fill the Bus With Illegals” and “Vote Michael Williams.”
The back window of the bus warns people to “stay back 1000 feet” and reads, “DANGER! MURDERERS, RAPISTS, KIDNAPPERS, CHILD MOLESTORS [sic], AND OTHER CRIMINALS ON BOARD.” At the bottom is an invitation to “FOLLOW ME TO MEXICO.”
“Hi, I’m Michael Williams,” he says in the video. “And boy do we have some exciting news for you.”
“We have our bus tour ready to go,” Williams continues, “but it’s not going to be one of those pansy political bus tours. We’ve got the deportation bus. That’s right, you heard me. The Michael Williams deportation bus. You want to find out where we’re coming? Go to deportationbus.com. We’re going to implement my 287(g) deportation plan that’s going to fill this bus with illegals to send them back to where they came from. We’re not just going to track them and watch them roam around our state. We’re going to put them on this bus and send them home. Go to deportationbus.com and find out where we’re going to be. See you there.
“If you’re as tired as I am with politicians that do nothing but talk and you want to see this bus filled with illegals, vote Michael Williams on May 22,” Williams says to close out the ad.
There are so many questions here, not the least of which is the legality of what Williams is promising and doing.
What legal authority does Williams have to round up anyone? How is he determining who is and isn’t “illegal”? Why does he think every illegal person is from Mexico?
According to his campaign website, Williams plans to take his bus to the three sanctuary cities in Georgia: Clarkston, Decatur and Athens. During those stops, he plans to “expose how dangerous illegal aliens ruin local economies, cost American jobs, increase healthcare costs, and lower education standards.”
In addition to his racist, hyperbolic stance on immigrants, Williams is promising to protect Confederate monuments and has made that one of his campaign issues, too.
Because of course.
See the offensive “Deportation Bus” ad below, and let us know what you think in the comments.