A new Lincoln Project ad will run this weekend in areas including Mar-a-Lago, Richmond, Virginia, and Greensboro, North Carolina, as part of the anti-Donald Trump group's "Audience of One" strategy seeking to defeat the former President this year.
It's rife with innuendo and is sure to rile Trump with several pokes and barbs as his momentum gains toward the GOP presidential nomination.
A female narrator begins in the ad, "Why can't you get over 75% Donald? Joe Biden does." Her voice is peppered with taunting tones one might hear on a school yard playground.
An image on-screen shows a headline from a post-Michigan Primary story declaring "Trump defeats (Nikki) Haley in Michigan primary, but warning signs appear."
The story is from The Guardian. The piece notes that Trump received just over 68% of the vote in Michigan, but that he had a "slimmer margin of victory" in Kent County, which is home "to the conservative movement" and "to the conservative mega-donors the DeVoses," referring to Trump's former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her husband, former Amway multilevel marketing company CEO Dick DeVos.
A television anchor is then heard on the ad saying that "both Biden and Trump won, but President Biden is winning by significantly more." It's not clear what the reporter is referencing in the ad, though it's likely in reference to Biden's Primary performance in Michigan, in which he exceeded 81% of the vote.
But that's where things take an antagonist turn.
"Why do you have so much trouble getting it up," the narrator then asks, showing an image of Melania Trump swatting away her husband as he attempts to hold her hand, before clarifying, "your numbers, I mean."
The ad then shows footage of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laughing awkwardly, followed by Trump taking a sip from a water glass even more awkwardly.
"They changed the entire Primary process to make it easier for you to dominate and you're still coming up short," the narrator intones, as an image of a Feb. 28 article by Ewan Palmer of Newsweek entitled "Donald Trump Continues to Underperform." It noted that while he dominated the former South Carolina Governor in the Michigan Primary, his victory was not as wide as polls predicted.
On the claim that the GOP changed Primary rules to benefit Trump, a New Yorker article explains "how Trump rewrote the GOP Primary rules to favor him," referencing moves in 2020 that, among other things, increased minimum thresholds for winning delegates in various states' Primaries.
The narrator then goes on to continue taunting the former President, who is known for getting riled at criticism, by saying "a whole lot of Republicans already think Joe Biden is a better choice."
Again, the ad does not offer a direct citation for its claim, but The Hill reports that "a slow drip of Republicans and former Trump administration officials are outright saying they would vote for Biden over former President Trump in a General Election rematch, citing their belief that Trump poses a risk to U.S. democracy."
The piece names Sarah Matthews, a former press aide in Trump's administration, and "recent polling" that shows "a swath of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley supporters in the Iowa caucuses" who "would back Biden over Trump in a General Election."
The ad goes on to claim Biden is stronger than Trump on the border, national defense and national security, and it teases Trump for his campaign being "broke," flashing an image on screen of an article headline reporting Trump's PACs racked up nearly $29 million in legal bills over six months, and that his Save America PAC is "almost broke," and another saying the RNC is running out of money.
"You owe so much money, Donald," the narrator says over a CNN headline about the $454 million Trump was ordered to pay in his recent civil fraud case over charges that he inflated assets to get better deals.
The narrator continues that it's "money you don't have, and can't get" showing another AP headline explaining that "Trump's properties could be seized if $454 million civil fraud debt not paid."
"Why did you even run? What are you trying to prove," she asks rhetorically before answering, "that you can lose worse than last time?"
"It's time to face the facts, Donald," the narrator continues. "America just isn't into you."
The ad will run on Fox News in the targeted areas.
"Trump is much weaker heading into the general election than the horse race coverage shows," said Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project.
"His campaign and SuperPAC are broke from covering his legal bills, the RNC is on life support, and Trump is desperately flailing to borrow money to pay his legal judgments. Trump should be terrified that Biden is stronger than him on core issues and that he's losing moderates and independents voters in a primary that he was supposed to dominate. He had the deck stacked for him, and he's still losing between 25-40% in the early states."
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