The grieving mother who was caught off guard when she appeared in a Trump ad asks the former president to intervene

Kimberly Burrell, a lifelong Democrat, has tried calling, emailing, and using social media to reach a political action committee that cut an out-of-context interview clip of her and placed it in an ad for former President Donald Trump.

Despite Burrell’s pleas, no one from Restoration PAC has gotten back to her, but she remains undeterred.

“I might not be wealthy, I might not be known, but I will move a mountain to get that ad down,” Burrell said at a small news conference Thursday in South Philadelphia.

Burrell, who now lives in Delaware but continues to speak out against gun violence in Philadelphia, where her son was killed in 2009, read a letter addressed to Trump, asking him to intervene and get his supporters to take down the ad. Whether Trump could legally do so is uncertain.

The ad has more than a few problems, as first reported by Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas. Burrell says she is voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, no one asked her to be in the 30-second spot, and the clip of Burrell discussing the difficulty of feeding a family on minimum wage came after a thorough discussion about gun violence, which claimed her son’s life 15 years ago.

Burrell said she was distraught in the clip, not so much about the price of produce, but because the interview from which it was pulled took place two days prior to the anniversary of her son Darryl Pray Jr.’s death.

The whole experience has left Burrell feeling retraumatized. She said she actually blames the Trump administration for the current inflation she referenced in her July MSNBC interview with Yasmin Vossoughian.

Burrell is now in a position of having to explain herself to friends and family asking why she “participated” in the ad.

What’s more, Burrell worries about what the ad does to her credibility as someone who works in gun violence prevention. Every Saturday, she goes out to communities to dissuade young people from picking up guns.

“Young men need to be able to trust us when we go on the streets putting our lives at risk every Saturday. This has to come down,” said Burrell.

State Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D., Philadelphia) slammed the donors of Restoration PAC, whom he called “privileged and removed from reality” for twisting Burrell’s pain from losing her son to gun violence and using it to try to win an election.

“In the middle of a presidential race, the highest office in America, one of the most powerful people positions in the world, we have reduced this conversation of pain and misery to a distorted lie in a political act,” said Williams.

The group that ran the ad is a super PAC, meaning it can raise an unlimited amount of funds from corporations or individuals for political activity but may not coordinate with the campaign in question. Restoration PAC is largely funded by Midwestern Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein, who donated at least $10 million in 2024, according to FEC filings.

The Trump campaign directed requests for comment regarding the ad to Restoration PAC. It was not immediately clear if Burrell’s plea for Trump to intervene was plausible. Restoration PAC did not respond to requests for comment.

The Harris campaign helped coordinate the news conference with staffers present, but did not offer any additional public comment.

Burrell said she is considering legal action if the ad is not taken down, citing a loss of privacy.

“I was raised to believe that all we have is our votes and our voices,” she said. “That was taken from me.”