Former President Donald Trump is being trolled in a new political ad in which the Lincoln Project tells the former president that Republicans are “laughing at you, all the way to the bank” and that he got “played” by the Republican establishment.
“The swamp won, Donald,” a narrator says as the ad opens with clips of snapping turtles, alligators and other swamp-dwelling animals pouncing on unsuspecting prey.
“Mitch McConnell’s Washington consultants are making big money using your name,” it continues. “We don’t know if Mitch gets a cut. But what do you think, Donald?”
The video, released by The Lincoln Project, shows a clip of McConnell, the Senate minority leader, pledging support for Trump at last year’s Republican convention, and calling the former president “my friend Donald Trump.”
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“You’re getting played,” the ad says. “He’s picking candidates loyal to him. They brought you a little bowl to hold in your little hands, and you fell for it.”
The “little bowl” dig is a reference to the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) inaugural Champion for Freedom Award. The NRSC’s chair, Sen. Rick Scott, (R-Fl.) traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier this year to deliver the award to Trump, who was photographed beaming with excitement.
The Lincoln Project also tells Trump Republicans are “laughing at you, all the way to the bank.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t run again,” the ad concludes. “Maybe the power Mitch McConnell has over the GOP is just too strong. Maybe what McConnell and the rest of Washington is saying is true: That Trump is done.”
Since leaving the White House in disgrace, Trump has condemned McConnell and the Senate GOP for not supporting him and his unproven claims of a rigged election in 2020. He has called the Kentucky Republican and “weak” leader and a political hack.
Following the deadly Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters, McConnell blamed Trump for the rioting and suggested he may still held criminally liable for offenses committed while in office.
Trump has urged his supporters, a majority of whom polling shows still support him over the Republican establishment, should give money to him and Republican primary candidates he supports rather than those backed by McConnell.
In March, Trump and the Republican National Committee also clashed over whether the GOP campaign arm has the legal right to use Trump’s name in its fundraising efforts.
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