‘I’m not going nuts’: Donald Trump’s Death Star hits Joe Biden on China
Donald Trump's campaign released a new anti-Joe Biden ad on May 7.

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The ad sets the tone for the 2020 campaign.

President Donald Trump levels into Democratic opponent Joe Biden’s record on China in a negative ad buy.

Closed with audio of Biden shouting “I’m not going nuts,” the spot reveals the tone voters can expect in 2020.

Trump Campaign Manager Brad Pascale released the ad through his Twitter account, revealing the first glimpse of a massive campaign dubbed by some as “Death Star.”

“For nearly three years we have been building a juggernaut campaign (Death Star). It is firing on all cylinders. Data, Digital, TV, Political, Surrogates, Coalitions, etc.” Pascale wrote on Twitter. “In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time.”

“I didn’t give our campaign the name, Death Star, the media did. However, I am happy to use the analogy. The fact is, we haven’t used it yet. Laugh all you want, we will take the win!”

The first attention grabbing ad, entitled “Coddles China,” contrasts recent statements Biden made suggesting Trump didn’t do enough to stop the coronavirus from coming from China into the U.S. with past remarks sympathetic to the regime.

Playing clips of Biden accusing Trump of “hysterical xenophobia,” the ad then ties Biden’s son Hunter Biden to a major investment deal in China.

“They’re not bad folks,” Biden says of China in one clip.

The video also shows a number of frantic moments in which Biden is shouting at reporters. There’s another clip near the end of the one-minute video with Biden shouting he’s isn’t “going nuts.”

Pascale also shared on his Twitter feed a news clip of Biden greatly exaggerating his education credentials from law school.

Trump campaign officials told Politico they plan to unleash $10 million to blast ads on broadcast and cable television and on digital platforms. It’s not yet clear how much of that will be spent in Florida, but if past years as a battleground state offer Floridians any signal of what to expect, the ads could reach them very soon.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].



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