House Republican leaders unveiled their "Commitment to America" plan for 2023, which contained, unsurprisingly, an inspirational video full of scenes presented as imagery of America that was stock footage from Russia and Ukraine. The video narrator says that America is "exceptional," and then shows quite a few photos that were not taken in America.
"We celebrate the rich heritage of the American story," a narrator says over footage of a drilling rig in Russia's Volgograd region, according to the Huffington Post.
The video of the GOP's plan used stock footage created by Serg Grbanoff, a filmmaker based in Russia.
Via HuffPo:
In another scene, a boy is seen smiling and running in a field with a toy airplane. The words "Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" appear on the screen, a reference to the Declaration of Independence.
Grbanoff also created the clip of the little boy.
At another point in the House Republican leaders' video, they take a shot at Democrats on the economy.
"Democrats have led America off track," the narrator says. The words "Crippling inflation and rampant crime" appear on the screen over a shot of a woman walking through a grocery store.
But this is footage from a European grocery store
But wait, there's more.
The clip of a farmer carrying a bag on his shoulder in a field of corn shows the words "And the vibrancy of the American Dream" on the screen.
This is also stock footage sourced from a Shutterstock contributor, DedovStock, which was not taken in the U.S.
Who else is not surprised by the shots of Russia instead of the U.S.? At least they threw Ukraine in there, I guess. I know this sort of thing has happened with Republicans before, but you'd think they would have learned their lesson by now. Oh, what am I saying?
