Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Joe Biden campaign is launching its first ad of the new year, which will spotlight threats the campaign believes “MAGA extremism” poses to the nation’s democracy. And it will air on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots for which former President Donald Trump is accused of inciting.
The 60-second spot entitled “Cause” includes a narration from Biden himself and is cast to remind voters of Trump and his supporters’ “prior and ongoing efforts to erode American democracy and excuse — and even promote — political violence,” a press release announcing the ad claims.
The ad contrasts Trump — as well as his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who have a “steadfast dedication to ensuring free and fair elections and the right of all Americans to have their votes counted.”
The half-million-dollar ad will run for one week on national television news and local evening news in key markets in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Shorter versions of the ad will air digitally on high-reach platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Connected TV.
The ad opens with an inspiring image of the Washington Monument, the White House and people voting, as Biden is seen delivering a speech.
“I’ve made the preservation of democracy the central issue of my presidency. I believe in free and fair elections and the right to vote fairly and have your vote counted,” the President says.
The imagery then pivots to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, with images of that day and others involving right-wing extremism. Footage shows those who stormed the Capitol waving “Trump 2020” flags, obscured in smoke. Other images show people climbing the Capitol walls and dousing pepper spray at others.
The scene is punctuated with an image of the makeshift gallows meant, as it was reported at the time, for Vice President Mike Pence if he didn’t act to block the certification of the 2020 election declaring Biden the winner.
“There’s something dangerous happening in America,” Biden continues. “There’s an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy. All of us are being asked right now — what will we do to maintain our democracy? History is watching. The world is watching. Most importantly, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible.”
The ad then pivots again to positive messaging.
“The Vice President and I have supported voting rights since Day 1 of this administration and I ask every American to join me in this cause. America is still a place of possibilities where the power resides with ‘we the people.’ That’s our soul. We are the United States of America. There is nothing beyond our capacity when we act together,” Biden says to conclude the ad, along with more imagery of Americana.
“Led by Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans are running on an extreme platform of undermining the will of the American people who vote in free and fair elections, weaponizing the government against their political opponents, and parroting the rhetoric of dictators in service of forcing their extreme, unpopular agenda,” Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
“Over the last three years, MAGA Republicans haven’t shied away from the Big Lie — they’ve doubled down. This ad serves as a very real reminder that this election could very well determine the very fate of American democracy.”
On Thursday morning, two days before the ad was set to run, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, acting as a surrogate for the campaign, similarly discussed the stakes of this Presidential Election on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“We know that the future of our democracy is going to matter in all of this. … The President is really setting the stakes and really hoping to set the platform for what people are going to hear. From him, it is a vision for their future. From Donald Trump, they’re going to hear a vision about his future. That’s the difference,” Moore said.
One comment
Dont Say FLA
January 4, 2024 at 11:37 am
I was in D.C. last week and tried to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol.
They told me I could not bring my giant confederate battle flag inside. (The nerve! Just who do these people think they are? But that is beside the point)
I went back to the car, dropped off my CBF, picked up my MAGA flag, and was again denied entry.
So I put the MAGA flag back in the car, pooped into my own hand and, you guessed it, again was denied entry.
So I ate my own poop from my own hand and it tasted mighty familiar for some reason, like if I was somehow consuming a constant stream of shit.
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