Trump criticised for Super Bowl ad featuring former prisoner Alice Marie Johnson

President granted Johnson in clemency in a high-profile case involving Kim Kardashian West

Pete Buttigieg has spoken to the online outrage over Donald Trump's Super Bowl advert about criminal justice reform, which featured a woman who was freed from prison after serving 21 years of a lifetime sentence for a non-violent drug offence.

In the advert, black and white script praised Mr Trump's decision to grant Alice Marie Johnson clemency, and featured a clip of her crediting the president upon her release. "Politicians talk about criminal justice reform. President Trump got it done," the advert said, in apparent reference to the legislation signed by the president that was said to be leading to the release of 3,100 inmates who showed good behaviour.

Mr Buttigieg, who is competing in Monday's Iowa caucuses as he seeks to become the Democratic nominee to take on Mr Trump, said during an appearance on Fox News that those criminal justice reforms are among the handful of things he agrees with the president on. But, he said it "doesn't change the incredible cruel and divisive racial rhetoric that comes out of this White House."

Ms Johnson was a first-time nonviolent drug offender who was granted clemency by the president after celebrity Kim Kardashian West pleaded on her behalf.

That lobbying effort ultimately resulted in the passage of the First Step Act, which was among the few signature pieces of legislation that have been passed with bipartisan support during Mr Trump's presidency. The bill shortened the sentences of some inmates, in part through a change in the way good behaviour credits are considered. The bill also increased job training and other programmes. Many of the thousands of inmates targeted for early release were said to be in similar circumstances to Ms Johnson.

Shortly after the advert aired, Ms Johnson herself tweeted the clip, beginning a caption by saying "Two Super Bowls ago I was sitting in a prison cell." Then, Kardashian West retweeted the message saying she is "proud" of Ms Johnson.

But the advert also drew criticism from some on Twitter who attacked Mr Trump's record on criminal justice reform. While Mr Trump's clemency for Ms Johnson was widely covered, he has so-far during his presidency exercised that presidential power much less than his predecessor, Barack Obama, who announced 330 commutations for nonviolent drug offenders on his last day in office alone.

"Alice Johnson is one person who won early release because celebrities brought her to Trump's attention," wrote Joyce Alene, an MSNBC contributor. "She deserved it. But there are thousands more like her in prison. We need a real pardon process that works fairly. We need real criminal justice reform. Don't be fooled."

Meanwhile others simply attacked the advert for its apparent snub of Kardashian West.

"Anyone just realise how Kim K wasn't recognised in the super bowl(sic) commercial about getting Alice Marie Johnson out of prison?" wrote one Twitter user. "Trump took all the credit".