Trump uses stock video from a Ukrainian agency in new campaign ad

Trump uses stock video of Ukrainians sheltering from the war and trying to buy a house in Lviv in his new ‘Mourning in America’ campaign ad claiming to show Americans suffering under Biden

• An ad for Trump used stock footage of a man sheltering from shelling in Ukraine
• A voice-over suggested he was an American in his parents’ basement
• But the video was actually of a man 25 miles from the Russia-Ukraine frontline 

Donald Trump’s campaign has used dramatic stock footage of a Ukrainian man sheltering from shelling to depict Americans living in their parents’ basements.

In an attack ad released on Wednesday, Trump criticized Biden for his management of inflation and to make the point used stock footage from Ukraine.

A clip in the ad shows a man sitting in a dimly lit basement as a voice-over suggests young Americans are unable to buy homes due to inflation.

But person in the video is actually a Ukrainian man sheltering in a basement in Zaporizhzhya after the country was invaded by Russia last year.

Another clip, which shows a young couple unable to negotiate the purchase of a house with an estate agent is also Ukrainian but \captured in Lviv, western Ukraine, before the war in 2021.

Donald Trump’s campaign has used stock footage of a Ukrainian man sheltering from shelling to depict an American who cannot afford a home in a campaign ad released on Wednesday

Another clip in the ad shows a young couple unable to negotiate the purchase of a house with an estate agent. The Ukrainian creator of the video said he would rather the footage had not been used for the cause

The videos appeared in an ad, titled ‘Mourning in America’ and also criticizes Biden for his management of the border, the withdrawal from Afghanistan and trans issues.

‘Under Biden’s unprecedented inflation, the hope of home ownership gone. And young adults, forced to abandon seeking the American dream to live in their parents’ basement longer,’ the ad says before the Ukrainian footage plays.

The creator of the video which showed the couple shopping for a house said he would rather his content was not used to boost Trump’s campaign.

‘I can only say bad things about Trump,’ the video’s creator, who asked not to be named to avoid harming his relationship with his stock-image vendor, told the New York Post.

‘But unfortunately, anyone can buy our or another video… I can’t control it,’ he added. ‘I wouldn’t want him to use the video in his ad. But rules are rules.’ 

Yevhen Shkolenko, who owns the production company responsible for the basement footage, told the Post the video is meant to show a man coping with the invasion of Ukraine and is not an American man who cannot afford his own home.

‘This video was made 100 percent in Ukraine during war in real sheltered basement, which is 40 km (25km) of front line,’ Shkolenko said.

‘We were one of those who stayed in our city to help people and the army and we continued our work of filming and when we were doing this filming, we went down to the basement many times in order to hide from rocket fire.’

He said that he was not ‘deeply aware’ of American politics but was grateful for the American military assistance Ukraine has received.  

‘Among my friends in America there are supporters of both Trump and Biden… [I] just want to be nice for all Americans who support us every day,’ he said.

Dramatic stock footage of this man in a basement was presented as an American in his parents’ basement but the video was actually filmed in Ukraine after the Russian invasion of Ukraine – 25 miles from the front line

Other dramatic footage featured in the advert shows hordes of people at the southern border

The ad also blamed Biden for the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan in which millions of dollars worth of military equipment was left behind

Other dramatic footage featured in the advert shows hordes of people at the southern border as the narrator says, ‘Thanks to Joe Biden, our borders are now wide open for all to come.’

The next issue tackled in the minute-long video pertains to the involvement of trans women in women’s sports and ‘schools free from parental involvement’.

‘Biden opposes banning boys from participating in girls’ sports,’ says text over yet more stock video of women lining up to run on a track.

The video also seizes the opportunity to mock Biden for his gaffs, and shows excerpts of videos in which he tumbled down stairs and fell on a bicycle.

The video was released hours before Trump appeared in a CNN Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon, during which he said he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours if he were elected president. 

Despite the use of the Ukrainian video, there was no mention of the war in Ukraine in the brief campaign ad. 

DailyMail.com wrote to the Donald Trump campaign regarding the stock footage but did not immediately hear back.

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