Trump ad claims Jeb Bush 'loves' immigrant criminals, Bush camp fires back

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday leveled his harshest criticism yet against fellow contender Jeb Bush -- with a 15 second ad posted to Instagram.

Trump's camp posted the ad Monday afternoon -- which begins with the words, "Jeb Bush's thoughts on illegal immigrants." It then features edited audio from a speech Bush made last year about his immigration beliefs.

Trump's ad implies that Bush advocates the immigration of Mexico's documented criminals -- including some, like Francisco Sanchez, who are accused of murder.

Sanchez is an immigrant accused of killing a San Francisco Bay Area woman after he had been deported to Mexico multiple times but always managed to return.

"Yes, they broke the law. But it's not a felony," Bush says in the ad. "It's an act of love."

The ad finishes with the words, "Forget love. It's time to get tough!"

Bush's campaign immediately responded to the video, emphasizing that the remarks were taken out of context and edited together to falsely suggest the former Florida governor would welcome criminal immigrants from Mexico into the United States.

A review of the full text of Bush's remarks, though, clearly show that Bush's remarks did not advocate what Trump's camp said they do.

"While Donald Trump was still supporting liberal, soft-on-crime politicians, Jeb Bush accumulated an eight-year record of cracking down on violent criminals as governor of Florida," Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said. "Mr. Trump's immigration plan is not conservative, would violate the constitution and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, which he will likely attempt to pay for through massive tax hikes."

Bush also criticized Trump's political past on the camp's Facebook and Twitter pages Monday -- by posting a photo of a copy of The New York Times from January 2007, which Trump had personally signed.

Trump's scribbled message above his signature on the newspaper appears to read, "Nancy, You are the greatest. Good luck!"

"Who's the real Donald J. Trump? He donated to sanctuary city supporting Nancy Pelosi and called her "The Greatest," the Facebook post said.