Tennessee Congressional Candidate Builds Literal Wall in Cringeworthy Campaign Ad
Jason Emert really wants people to know he supports Donald Trump.
A Republican congressional candidate in Tennessee is so eager to prove he supports Donald Trump's immigration policies that he released a campaign ad where he literally builds a brick wall.
"It all starts with a good foundation. If your foundation is solid, it'll take care of itself for many years to come," Jason Emert says at the start of his 30-second ad, appropriately titled Brick By Brick, in which he puts mortar on bricks and lays them on top of each other.
When Emert's wife Lauren asks if he's "really going to help President Trump build the wall," he responds, "you bet I am."
Emert is one of seven candidates seeking the GOP nomination in Tennessee's Second Congressional District. Incumbent Rep. John Duncan (R–Tenn.) has held the seat for nearly 30 years, but he is retiring at the end of his term.
Emert's video parodies an insurance ad starring former University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones, who was fired last year. "Unlike Butch Jones, when I say I'm going to do something, I actually mean it," Emert says. Both ads feature men in orange polo shirts building brick walls, along with similar wording and the use of the phrase "brick by brick."
But Emert's ad is more literal-minded than its model. The candidate wants a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, even though such a wall would cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars to solve a problem that doesn't exist.