Tag Archives: Bess Levin

Is Donald Trump Really Hawking His Suit From the Debate With Joe Biden?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and checking out the latest dish from Vanity Fair, when I came across this item from the always entertaining Bess Levin detailing Donald Trump’s latest batch of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) glorifying himself.

Donald Trump is a serious contender for president who is absolutely not hard up for cash, and if the video he released on social media Tuesday morning makes you think otherwise, well, that’s on you . . .

Yes, that’s Trump, who is hoping to win the race for leader of the free world, telling his supporters about an exciting opportunity to purchase “Trump digital trading cards” that feature illustrations of the candidate with a halo above his head, wearing boxing gloves, praying (?) in front of another illustration of himself, holding a giant bitcoin, and more. Any single one can be yours for the low, low price of $99.

But wait! There’s more! “Not only will you receive a physical trading card (for every 15 digital cards purchased) but you’ll get ‘an authentic piece’ of the suit Trump wore for his debate with Joe Biden.”

Geez, Doc – is there anything about this guy that’s not for sale?

– Grift Rapped

Dear GR,

Of course you can eliminate “his soul” right off.  Beyond that, the latest batch of Trumpabilia is pimped in this video.

You really should watch the whole thing. It’s Trump at his carnival-barker best, the ultimate infomercial huckster.

One last tidbit from Levin’s piece: “Considering dropping $7,425 plus tax on 75 trading cards? If you do, you’ll be invited to join Trump ‘for a gala dinner’ at his club in Jupiter, Florida, which yes, sounds like a poor man’s Mar-a-Lago, but don’t dwell on it.”

The Doc’s diagnosis: We’re laying plenty of eight-to-five that if said gala dinner ever did happen, Trump would – at best – “join” it by video. More likely, though, it would feature  yet another NFT (No Frickin’ Trump).

You heard it here first.

Should Joe Biden Drop $30 Million on Ads Now or Just Set That Money on Fire?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and enjoying Bess Levin’s Vanity Fair newsletter, when I came across a link to this Politico piece by Elena Schneider about a new ad blitz for Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.

[The Biden campaign] will start a six-week, $30 million TV and digital ad buy on Saturday, aimed at drawing out the “full-throated” contrast between Biden’s vision for “where the country can go” against “Donald Trump’s dark, dangerous and chaotic vision for the country,” said campaign communications director Michael Tyler on a call with reporters Friday morning. The ads will target battleground states, as well as Black and Latino-focused outlets and channels.

I dunno, Doc – isn’t that like Macy’s running ads in March for a one-day sale in November?

– Ad Homonym

Dear AH,

The Doc has taken a dim view of presidential campaign advertising on multiple occasions, but this seems to be a special case for one particular reason.

Those numbers come from an AP-NORC poll conducted last month. But Biden’s problem goes beyond the mind-boggling fact that more Americans believe Donald Trump “has the mental capability to serve effectively as president” than he does. There’s also this from a new Wall Street Journal poll, as Aaron Zitner reports.

Some 73% say Biden is too old, at age 81, to stand for re-election, the same share as in an August Journal poll. By comparison, 52% see Trump, age 77, as too old to run for the White House, up 5 points from August.

Ouch.

Baked-in public opinion like that can’t be turned around overnight, so it makes sense for Biden to get crackin’ now. And his first TV spot goes right to the heart of the matter.

The ad hits many of  Biden’s high points: Covid response, infrastructure investment, climate change reform, job growth. It also hits several of Trump’s low points, including that “he took away women’s right to choose.”

The spot ends with an outtake, as Nicholas Nehamas notes in the New York Times.

After the standard announcement that Mr. Biden has approved the message, a voice off-camera asks him to do one more take.

“Look, I’m very young, energetic and handsome. What the hell am I doing this for?” Mr. Biden replies, flashing a mischievous grin before the screen goes black.

The Doc’s diagnosis: If Biden has any chance of defusing the time bomb underneath the Resolute Desk, this approach is probably his best bet for doing so. Given that pro-Biden forces will spend close to $1 billion on advertising in the next eight months, the current $30 million ad buy is a decent way to prime the pump.

How Soon Will Dems Launch Ads Against MAGA Mike Johnson? Oh, Wait . . .

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads, 

There I was, minding my own business and scrolling through yesterday’s edition of Punchbowl News AM, when I came across this item about the new House Speaker, Mike Johnson (R-Trump Won).

Of course, Democrats are already hitting vulnerable GOP incumbents over their vote to elevate Johnson to the speakership. Expect plenty of campaign ads tying endangered incumbents to Johnson’s socially conservative views.

Here’s where that link takes you (Max Cohen is Punchbowl’s Congressional reporter).

That’s not an ad, though, is it, Doc? What else you got?

– GOPsmacked

Dear G-Smack,

About six hours after that Punchbowl newsletter hit emailboxes,  The Daily Beast’s Riley Rogerson updated this report from the previous day.

Dems Turn Mike Johnson’s First Viral Moment Into Anti-GOP Ad

When House Republicans held an impromptu press conference late Tuesday night to celebrate coalescing around their new speaker nominee, they were in no mood to answer tough questions—or even the obvious one.

So when ABC reporter Rachel Scott asked Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)—the speaker nominee who has now been elevated to the speakership—about his leading efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Republicans were having none of it.

They drowned out the reporter with boos. Johnson said “next question.” And Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) told the reporter to “shut up!”

Now, a D.C.-based advocacy group, Courage For America, is seizing on the moment to attack Republicans and quickly define the new speaker.

First, let’s have a look at the Grand Old Partiers’ Shut Up Caucus, via North Carolina’s News & Observer.

The Courage for America ad buy is a mere $20,000 – just enough to get news media coverage – while targeting 11 New York Republicans: Reps. Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, George Santos, Anthony D’Esposito, Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Elise Stefanik, Brandon Williams, Nick Langworthy, and Claudia Tenney.

For an even more harrowing view of the Mike Johnson Experience, check out this Popular Information colonoscopy from Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby. (Johnson is also Bess Levin’s latest chew toy at Vanity Fair.)

The Doc’s diagnosis? This fever ain’t gonna break anytime soon.

Wait – A GOP Candidate’s Ad Compares Anthony Fauci to Osama bin Laden?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and reading Bess Levin’s excellent newsletter in Vanity Fair, when I came across this item.

Wanna defend your fellow doctor here, Doc?

– Fauci Grouchy

Dear Grouchy,

First, we need to post this Federally mandated disclosure:

Warning: Dr. Ads is not a licensed physician

Whatever.

Anyway, here’s the spot.

Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramirez provides this helpful description.

The ad compares President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — as well as perceived cultural enemies like Tony Fauci — to foreign terror groups and totalitarian regimes.

Standing in what looks like a shooting range decked out in tactical gear and wearing clothes intended to resemble military fatigues, Mills cites his background as a veteran who “fought tyranny” and governments “forcing citizens to cover their faces” with burqas. “In America, our enemy is different but their objective is the same,” says Mills, “Total. Government. Control.”

(The irony of a post-Roe, anti-abortion rights Republican comparing Democrats to a regime imposing religious controls over woman is, well, a bit much.)

At least the ad doesn’t wonder why we’ve never seen Fauci and bin Laden in the same room.

Ramirez also notes that Mills previously ran this ad, in which he “[suggests] he would tear gas members of the media.”

Given the results of the latest poll in that race, as Jacob Ogles at Florida Politics reports, the next tears you see might be streaming down the cheeks of Cory Mills.

A new poll released by a conservative group shows Anthony Sabatini leading the GOP field in Florida’s 7th Congressional District.

U.S. Term Limits published results from RMG Research, run by conservative pollster Scott Rasmussen, on Republicans seeking the Central Florida seat. Pollsters found 23% of likely Republican Primary voters plan to support Sabatini, a state Representative from Howey-in-the-Hills.

Behind him is Cory Mills, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran and the choice for 16% of voters. Brady Duke, the fundraising leader through June, comes in third place in this poll, with 9% of the vote.

Forty-two percent of voters, according to that poll, remain undecided.

Gary Fineout at Politico’s Florida Playbook, however, cites a poll that paints a different picture.

[A] crowded GOP primary in Florida’s 7th District shows Cory Mills, a combat veteran and defense consultant, pulling in 23 percent to 21 percent for state Rep. Anthony Sabatini. Brady Duke, a former U.S, Navy SEAL sniper and minister, has 8 percent. The poll shows that there was still 40 percent undecided in the contest.

The Doc’s diagnosis: Cory Mills better hope most of those undecideds are just as Fauci grouchy as our faithful correspondent, yeah?

Why Did Josh Mandel Go to Someone Even Less Likable Than Himself for a Senate Primary Endorsement?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and reading Punchbowl News AM, when I came across this item.

→ Well, he doesn’t have Donald Trump’s endorsement, but Josh Mandel has a new spot with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who urges Ohio voters to send the former Buckeye State treasurer to the Senate. Mandel is seeking the GOP nomination for the Ohio Senate seat. The spot is running statewide.

Wait, what? 

Josh Mandel, a candidate too creepy for Trump, went to Ted Cruz, a politician too creepy for his entire life, for an endorsement?

How does that work, Doc?

– Buckeyed

Dear Buckeyed,

First, let’s establish the mala fides of the fulsome twosome: Here are the search results for Josh Mandel gutter and the search results for Ted Cruz hated.

As for the despicable in support of the deplorable . . .

You might ask, why would Mandel tout an endorsement from a universally reviled politician? This Associated Press piece by Jill Colvin and Julie Carr Smyth might provide a clue.

Josh Mandel runs Ohio GOP Senate campaign ‘through churches’

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (AP) — Before digging into his six-egg omelet at a bustling northeast Ohio diner, Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel stopped to bow his head.

“Bless our food, our time, our conversation, in Jesus’ name,” said Pastor J.C. Church, who joined Mandel after a campaign event at a local church. ”Amen.”

The scene encapsulated Mandel’s campaign strategy as he competes in a crowded field of Republican contenders ahead of Ohio’s May 3 primary. He is a Jewish candidate who makes no secret of his faith, but who is centering his campaign around evangelical churches as he tries to win over religious, conservative voters.

(A six-egg omelet? If that’s not the Christiaan Barnard Special, the Doc doesn’t know what is.)

There’s no doubt Cruz is popular with evangelicals, but Mandel might want to consider a little Cruz control after the Texas solon attacked a high-profile opponent of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill on his latest podcast, as the redoubtable Bess Levin detailed in Vanity Fair.

Senator Ted Cruz . . . recently suggested that because Disney decided to speak out against the bigoted Florida legislation—after receiving backlash from its employees for initially refusing to do so—it’s obviously going to introduce NC-17 story lines to its children’s programming.

In an extremely weird set of remarks, even for him, the Texas lawmaker opined at a live recording of his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz: “I think there are people who are misguided, trying to drive, you know, Disney stepping in, saying, you know, in every episode now they’re gonna have, you know, Mickey and Pluto going at it. Like, really? It’s just like, come on guys, these are kids, and you know, you could always shift to Cinemax if you want that.

And that’s not even Mandel’s biggest problem. The Cruz endorsement clearly falls within the knife-to-a-gunfight category, as this new spot from opponent JD Vance illustrates.

Donald Trump’s endorsement has helped Vance reopen the money spigots from his sugar daddy, Peter Thiel – the tech  billionaire who bankrolled Vance early, then ghosted him – as Politico’s Alex Isenstadt reported.

Vance parlays Trump endorsement into new Thiel money

Ohio Republican J.D. Vance is cashing in on his endorsement from former President Donald Trump with a major new super PAC donation from billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel.

Thiel has donated $3.5 million to Protect Ohio Values, the super PAC backing Vance, according to a person familiar with the contribution — part of a broader tranche of money that has come in to support the Senate candidate after last week’s Trump endorsement, which shook up a crowded and competitive race for the GOP nomination.

(For those of you keeping score at home, both Vance and Mandel have felt compelled to run ads proclaiming “I’m not a racist,” which pretty much speaks for itself. A third candidate – Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons – conveniently rounds out the primary’s racism trifecta.)

Here’s where the race stood, according to Real Clear Politics, as of April 14th.

We’ll soon see if a Trump endorsement is the right prescription for getting JD Vance over the hump. The Ohio primary is May 3rd.

How Can You Tell If Sarah Huckabee Sanders Is Lying in Her Campaign Ads?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads.

There I was, minding my own business and scrolling through Punchbowl News AM when I came across this item in the newsletter’s Tally section, which tracks the latest 2022 campaign ads.

Arkansas GOP gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders compares the White House press corps to her unruly children and takes a shot at CNN in her latest ad.

“As White House press secretary, I had to say no. A lot,” Sanders says in the ad. “Being a mom to young kids was the perfect training.”

Sanders also pledges to oppose President Joe Biden’s “radical” agenda and advocates for “good schools, lower taxes and higher-paying jobs.” Huckabee Sanders will very likely be the next governor of Arkansas, so we’re keeping a close eye on how she positions herself.

To be honest, Doc, I didn’t know much of anything about Huckabee Sanders, but when I Googled her, this 2019 Vanity Fair piece by Bess Levin – headline: “As Sarah Sanders Signs Off, A Look Back At Her Biggest Lies” – popped up. Here’s a representative sample.

So I gotta ask, Doc – how do we know if Huckabee Sanders is lying in her campaign ads?

– Huckaboo

Dear Huckaboo,

It’s tempting, of course, to answer your question, “because her lips are moving.” At least that was the case when Huckabee Sanders was the mouthpiece for the Capo di Tutti Liars, Donald J. Trump, as you astutely noted.

But let’s take a step back and look at her latest TV spot.

Here’s the funny thing: Huckabee Sanders compares the White House press corps to a bunch of rambunctious kids, but in reality it’s she who fits the age-old juvenile stereotype: Kids who lie about what they’ve done to avoid the consequences.

She even lies about lying, as Scott Martelle noted in this 2019 Los Angeles Times op-ed.

Soup to nuts graf:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has never found a fact she couldn’t twist, denied Friday morning that there’s a culture of lying at the White House.

The Doc’s diagnosis: Caveat videntium when it comes to any Sarah Hucksterbee Sanders ad in her quest for the Arkansas corner office.