Yesterday Allahpundit wrote about a new campaign ad by Latino Victory which depicted minority children being chased by someone in a black pick-up truck. This afternoon, in the wake of the terror attack in Manhattan, the group released a statement saying it had decided to take down the ad:

Latino Victory Fund Statement: pic.twitter.com/VE8T3N3zI2

— Latino Victory (@latinovictoryus) October 31, 2017

“Given recent events, we will be placing other powerful ads into rotation that highlight the reasons we need to elect progressive leaders in Virginia,” the statement reads. Just a few hours earlier, before the attack in New York, the group put up this tweet defending the ad:

It turns out that racists really, really don't like being called racist. https://t.co/3KeV3QaYrU

— Latino Victory (@latinovictoryus) October 31, 2017

According to The Root, the ad was intended to recall the attack in Charlottesville but the image of a truck threatening to mow people down in the street suddenly has another reference point after today’s attack. The Washington Post reports the ad was intended to shore up minority support for Democratic candidate Ralph Northam:

Public polling shows Northam easily beating Gillespie among black and Latino voters, but a recent private poll shared widely among minority advocacy groups sparked worry about the Democrat’s appeal. Northam’s campaign urged the groups not to release the poll’s findings, according to multiple people familiar with the matter — a point not disputed by his campaign.

In the weeks since the poll was conducted, progressive groups have worked to tie Gillespie to Trump, whose approval rating among Latinos nationwide hovers in the teens. They worry that if Gillespie wins, his campaign ads — which raised concerns about illegal immigration and “sanctuary cities” and voiced support for Confederate-era monuments — could be replicated nationwide next year by GOP candidates eager to turn out conservative voters.

“If we can respond in a very hard way right now, that causes our people to turn out in force and stomp out that fire. Hopefully we will do that,” Latino Victory Fund (LVF) President Cristóbal J. Alex said in an interview.

In other words, there was a bit of panic that Northram’s hold on minority voters was slipping and this vicious, ugly ad was the result. This ad does not “hold up a mirror to the Republican Party.” Republicans do not support the running down of Heather Heyer or minority children. One deranged man did that, not a political party. You would think the same progressives who argue after every Islamic terror attack not to lump all Muslims in with the violent extremists would be able to grasp that distinction.