A conservative anti-Trump group is running a TV ad this week reminding voters about Donald Trump’s culpability for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot.
The spot, which will run on Fox News Jan. 8-10, intersperses actual riot footage with several congressional Republicans weighing in on Trump’s responsibility during the brief window in which they dared to speak the truth. The ad is set to run nationally during Fox News town hall events featuring Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Donald Trump as Republican voters prepare for the first-in-the-nation caucus in Iowa on Jan. 15 and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23.
“We want to make sure Republican primary voters don’t miss this,” wrote Republican Accountability Project executive director Sarah Longwell, subtweeting the ad.
In the opening frames of the ad, Trump tells the MAGA faithful during his Jan. 6 speech at the White House Ellipse, “You have to get your people to fight!”
Footage of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaking from the well of the Senate follows, with McConnell, representing the GOP’s establishment wing, declaring, “President Trump is responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
Back to Trump: “And we fight … we fight like hell.”
Cue Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, from the MAGA wing of the party: “The president’s language and rhetoric crossed a line and it was reckless.”
Trump then says, “We will never concede … you don’t concede when there’s theft involved.”
From inside the halls of Congress on Jan. 6, Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, a rising GOP star, says, “This is the cost of telling thousands of people that there is a legitimate shot at overturning the election.”
As block letters stating “Trump Did This” fill the screen, Trump is heard saying, “And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
The ad is a clear effort to persuade any voters who harbor hesitations about Trump to abandon him in their state’s contest and open an avenue for either DeSantis or Haley to get their vote instead.
The chances of anyone defeating Trump in the Republican primary remain exceedingly low, but the longer he has to fight for the nomination, the better for President Biden’s reelection chances—and democracy as a whole.
