Jack Ciattarelli’s anti-immigration ad features foreign stock footage
Ciattarelli supports President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
A digital ad from New Jersey governor candidate Jack Ciattarelli claims to depict distressed Americans, but much of the footage is actually sourced from Cyprus and Indonesia.
Ciattarelli, a Republican, launched his campaign last year. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 and 2018 and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2017 and 2021.
The ad, running on Facebook and X, features clips of his Republican primary opponent Bill Spadea embracing a pro-immigration policy. Spadea’s statements are intercut with various shots of distressed individuals watching news reports about so-called migrant crime.
“I’m a little more liberal than my conservative friends on it,” Spadea says in the ad. “I do believe in amnesty and a pathway to citizenship.”
In one shot, a grey-haired woman sits anxiously on the edge of her bed. In another, a bearded man holds a bottle of beer as he watches the news.
Both shots appear to come from Shutterstock, an American company that provides stock photos and footage as well as editing tools. Shutterstock licenses media for online download on behalf of photographers and videographers from across the globe.
The shot of the grey-haired woman came from a creator using the handle Pressmaster who is based in Indonesia. The shot of the bearded-man is sourced to Nailya Tavkaeva in Cyprus.
Spadea and Ciattarelli have similar immigration platforms as a part of their campaigns.
Spadea said in a Jan. 21 social media post that he would “100% cooperate” with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan. On Feb. 1, Ciattarelli said that Trump’s immigration polices were “working” and claimed Trump was “rounding up and deporting illegals who committed crimes in their country of origin and here in the U.S.”
NPR reported four days later that Trump’s immigration sweeps have led to the arrests of several non-criminals.
Spokespeople for the Ciattarelli and Spadea campaigns did not respond to requests for comment. The Republican primary for New Jersey governor is scheduled for June. 10.
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