Welcome to the beat everyone, I'm Ari Melber, our top story.

Begin with the midterm campaign ad

as a Republican Senator talks about violence and crackheads.

Violent crime is surging in Louisiana.

Woke leaders buying the police.

If you hate cops just because of cops,

the next time you get in trouble, call a crackhead.

Next time you get in trouble, call a crackhead.

We're going to get into this.

We are in the midterm home stretch.

And what you see there from Senator Kennedy

is not actually an aberration at this point.

Many Republicans are turning to fear tactics, tropes,

racial references, and sometimes outright documented racism

in this part of the final weeks of this campaign.

Now some candidates have used in the past racial dog whistles.

That's the tactic where you're signaling a type of racism

to one audience while preserving your deniability.

But lately the right wing has relied more on something

like racial sirens than any dual messaging.

Crime is up right now in America.

And that certainly can be a valid issue for campaigns.

...