Hillary Clinton Gets Personal In New Trump Attack Ad
Hillary Clinton has released a new attack ad today, and for the first time in this presidential race, she’s going after Trump in a TV spot. In the new Clinton ad, Hillary goes after Trump, characterizing the Republican frontrunner as dangerous for New York state, and for New York City – “New York knows better,” the ad claims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmzc0hvB-oY
The Clinton attack ad was released in New York today, and marks the first time that Hillary Clinton has personally gone after Donald Trump in a television ad – a landmark for the Clinton campaign, and some commentators are calling the move a pivot toward the general election. Clinton still has to win the New York primary, but BuzzFeed reports that the best way for Clinton to do that seems to be by running against Donald Trump, rather than Bernie Sanders.
“New York. Twenty million people strong. No we don’t all look the same. We don’t all sound the same either. But when we pull together, we do the biggest things in the world,” says Hillary Clinton in the new anti-Trump attack ad.
.@HillaryClinton hits @realDonaldTrump in first New York ad https://t.co/UA0XVYLvEm
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) March 30, 2016
To be fair, the ad doesn’t mention Trump by name, but it prominently features the Trump tower, and a big sign with Trump’s name on it. Hillary Clinton provides the narration, describing New York as “diverse” and “strong” and the ad illustrates that diversity is what makes New York City great — diversity she claims is harmed by “building walls” and “banning people” based on their religion, two of the hallmarks of the Donald Trump campaign.
“So when some say we can solve America’s problems by building walls, banning people based on their religion, and turning against each other – well, this is New York, and we know better,” Hillary Clinton says in the ad, just before showing a clip of a Donald Trump protester being sucker punched by a Trump supporter.
The new Clinton ad is personal, subdued, and aimed directly at the people of New York, her home state. The Clinton campaign hopes to sweep the state in a landslide victory in the primary next month, which would do some serious damage to the Bernie Sanders campaign. The best way to win in New York, Hillary Clinton claims in the ad, is to embrace its diversity. Clinton ignores Sanders in the ad, running directly against the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. The ad positions Hillary Clinton as the presumptive Democratic nominee, and appeals to New York by suggesting that a vote for Clinton is a vote against Trump.
Hillary Clinton confronts Donald Trump in New York ad – From @jeffzeleny https://t.co/k26ynuPVTw
— Dan Merica (@merica) March 30, 2016
Donald Trump, CNN Reports, has already responded to the Hillary Clinton ad this morning, joking that he’ll be living on Pennsylvania Avenue – where the White House stands – if she wins the Democratic primary.
“It’s a New York City ad, talking about New York. Except for one problem – she used a sign that’s on Pennsylvania Avenue,” Donald Trump joked this morning during a campaign event in Wisconsin.
The Clinton ad attracted the attention of the Sanders campaign as well, which noted Clinton’s shift toward the general election. The Clinton ad doesn’t mention Sanders anywhere, and it doesn’t take aim at any of his policies or the differences between the two candidates – it’s all about Clinton and Trump, which the Sanders campaign claims is deliberate.
“Obviously the Clinton campaign understands the momentum that Senator Sanders has and that’s forcing them to fight for a state they’d have thought they’d have wrapped up by now,” said a senior Sanders adviser today, speaking with CNN.
Bernie Sanders continues to campaign in Wisconsin today, but as soon as tomorrow, the Vermont Senator has campaign events scheduled in New York state – where he’ll address supporters in the Bronx.
[Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]
