How Can an Ad Claim That Donald Trump ‘Couldn’t Be Hired at a Local Mall’?

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 Jim Swift’s Overtime newsletter from The Bulwark, when I came across this item about a new ad campaign from Republican Voters Against Trump.

No mall would hire Trump… So why would we make him President again? A new ad from our friends at RVAT airing on TV and online in battleground states.

I dunno, Doc – does that sound right to you? Donald Trump does have an awful lot of experience in sales.

– Mall Rat

Dear MR,

Yeah, the thing with Trump is, so much of what he’s sold during his career has been irregular.

Beyond that, the rest of his resumé is even more problematic, as this RVAT press release explains.

WASHINGTONApril 22, 2024 – Today Republican Voters Against Trump launched a new six-figure ad campaign as part of an ongoing $50 million campaign, highlighting Donald Trump’s 88 felony charges.

The ad uses first-person hidden-camera footage of a job applicant going to several stores and repeatedly being rejected after sharing that he has been indicted for stealing classified documents, paying hush money to porn stars, and attempting to overturn an election.

Here’s how that worked out.

The ad is scheduled to run nationally on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” and digitally in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Republican Voters Against Trump is yet another effort from the irrepressible Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, impresario of The Focus Group Podcast, and founder of Republican Voters Against Trump/Republican Accountability Project.

Sarah Longwell is the undisputed Queen of Never Trumpers.

Ask for her by name.

Is Donald Trump’s New Ad Really Like Some ‘Mob Boss Complaining’?

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 my Twitter feed, when I came across this tweet from #mapoli stalwart and former Bostonian David Bernstein.

Why is it the Trump campaign that’s running this ad, Doc? Doesn’t the former guy have a hitman to do his wet work?

– Mob Squad

Dear MS:

You’re right – the erstwhile Cheeto in Chief has a perfectly good PAC animal for just this kind of job (see Pudding Fingers for further details). Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough set out yesterday to deconstruct Trump’s new ad, but wound up spending all their time dismantling DeSantis.

The New York Post’s Josh Christenson has this helpful play-by-play.

“Ron DeSantis was struggling big time in his primary race for governor of Florida,” says the ad’s narrator, referring to the 44-year-old’s first gubernatorial run in 2018.

“Polls revealed DeSantis was failing so bad, he was losing by a staggering 17 points,” the narrator adds. “Then DeSantis was saved by the endorsement of President Trump.

“Trump’s support was so powerful, just two days after the endorsement, DeSantis took a commanding lead and it propelled him to being elected governor.”

The ad includes a clip from DeSantis’ victory speech in November 2018, in which the potential 2024 GOP challenger says, “I’d like to thank our president for standing by me when it wasn’t necessarily the smart thing to do.”

The spot ends with this dagger: “Instead of being grateful, DeSantis is now attacking the very man who saved his career. Isn’t it time DeSantis remembers how he got to where he is? Truth is, there’s only one person who can Make America Great Again.”

The Doc’s diagnosis? A few more ads like that one and Ron DeSantis could be sleeping with the fishes.