The group pulled the ad after eight people were killed in New York City after a truck attack that targeted cyclists and pedestrians. “It is not shocking that communities of color are scared of what his Trump-like policy positions mean for them,' campaign spokesman Ofirah Yheskel and told ABC News in an email. The Northam campaign did not condemn the ad. The Gillespie campaign called the ad “vile” and “an attack on all Virginians.” Just last week, an outside group called Latino Victory Fund ran an ad featuring a pickup truck with a Confederate flag and Gillespie bumper sticker menacing young minority children. While Northam has largely attacked Gillespie over his lobbying career, a mailer sent out by the state’s Democratic Party linked Gillespie and Trump to white nationalist protesters and the surrounding chaos over the summer in Charlottesville, according to The Washington Post. Gillespie has also tried to use the controversy over Confederate monuments to his advantage, running ads saying the monuments will “stay up” if he is elected and hitting Northam for saying he would take steps to remove some statues. The Republican has also run ads highlighting Northam’s support for the automatic restoration of certain rights for criminals, saying the policy allows sex offenders to have their gun rights restored. Gillespie has run ads highlighting crimes committed by the violent MS-13 gang, accusing Northam of supporting policies that have allowed the gang to grow in the state.

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