A Democratic operative who promoted the false narrative that Border Patrol agents were whipping Haitian migrants is now facing online backlash for attacking commercials promoting the Christian faith that aired during the Super Bowl.
He Gets Us, a campaign touting itself as a “movement to reintroduce people to the Jesus of the Bible and his confounding love and forgiveness,” aired two advertisement spots during Sunday night’s big NFL game.
The first one is 30 seconds and urges viewers to “be childlike” while showing children being helpful and kind to each other and animals. “Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults,” appears on the screen. “He gets us. All of us. Jesus.”
The second ad is 60 seconds and is meant to promote inclusion amid perceived division. It shows people arguing and confronting each other angrily until “Jesus loved the people we hate” appears onscreen.
Despite the messages of inclusion, a self-described Democratic strategist and communications consultant went on Twitter late Sunday night, after the commercials aired during the Super Bowl, to lambast the ads.
“With the money the ‘He Gets Us’ people spent on their right-wing Jesus ads, they could permanently house 1,563 people experiencing homelessness,” wrote Sawyer Hackett, who according to his Twitter profile is a senior adviser to both the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro.
It reportedly costs $7 million for 30 seconds of ad time during the Super Bowl broadcast. The He Gets Us spots are part of a multimillion-dollar campaign from the nonprofit Servant Foundation, which also does business as an organization called the Signatry.
Hackett’s attacks quickly earned scorn and mockery on Twitter.
“It’s kinda weird and cringe that the commercial you have a problem with is maybe the only one that wasn’t selling you something or trying to get you to scan some spyware QR code to play an NFT gambling game,” wrote podcaster and political commentator Noam Blum.
One Twitter user argued it “just seems silly to apply this standard to the Christian ad but not the ads for Pepsi or anything else.”
Another asked of Hackett, “Isn’t this true about every ad and sponsor? Plenty of woke corporations spent millions so are you just calling this one out because you hate Jesus?”
Others pointed to political ads, government spending, and the $800,000 that the NFL put into the grass for Sunday night’s Super Bowl field as other expenditures that didn’t go to the homeless but escaped Hackett’s ire.
“They spent $800,000 on the grass, and I’m pretty sure that didn’t save anyone’s soul,” tweeted one user. “Feels better to hate on the Christians though.”
Hackett previously made headlines in 2021 for being one of the loudest and earliest voices pushing the narrative that border agents on horseback were whipping Haitian migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally.
“Border patrol is mounted on horseback rounding up Haitian refugees with whips,” he tweeted at the time. “This is unfathomable cruelty towards people fleeing disaster and political ruin. The administration must stop this.”
Hackett’s tweet went viral, capturing the attention of the likes of MSNBC host Joy Reid.
The whipping narrative was quickly revealed as false — agents were using split reins to control their horses as migrants rushed across the river. No whipping took place.
Hackett did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.