Marco Rubio ad uses footage of Canada to represent idyllic 'American' morning
It's the thought that counts, right? The latest candidate to be fuzzy on the specifics of American geography is Marco Rubio, whose newest ad features an opening shot of the Vancouver, Canada, skyline as a voiceover intones, "It's morning again in America."
The riff on Ronald Reagan's classic "Morning Again in America" uses stock footage of a harbor and tug boat, shot by Vancouver-based videographer Guy Chavasse, The Washington Post reports. "It's pretty funny, isn't it? It's a good-looking video, no doubt, but it's pretty recognizable as Vancouver," Chavesse told the CBC following the mix-up.
Other Canadians agreed. "It's unmistakably Vancouver," the Vancouver Sun blasted Monday, pointing out the city's "familiar" landmarks like the Harbour Centre, One Wall Centre, and the Port Metro Vancouver cranes. BuzzFeed News went as far as to observe that the flag on the tugboat in the foreground is pretty clearly Canadian.
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"Ha! Nice catch by BuzzFeed — we hadn't noticed that. We are not going to make Canada an issue in this election," a Rubio campaign spokesperson told BuzzFeed when reached for comment.
Rubio isn't the first candidate to misrepresent foreign lands as American turf — earlier this year, Donald Trump used footage of the Moroccan border while implying it was the U.S. border with Mexico.
Watch Rubio's ad below. Jeva Lange
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.