The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group whose viral videos frequently antagonise the former president and his loyalists, released a new ad that posits what the future of the GOP will look like under figures who have dragged the party to the far-right corners of the political spectrum in recent years.
Opening on an old-timey, cartoon theatre, the ad begins with a hammed-up narration that seems to model itself after the newsreels that mid-20th century audiences grew familiar with.
“Meet the new Republican party,” the narrator begins with 1950s-announcer flare. “We have conspiracy theories, insurrection and don’t forget overthrowing elections.”
Interspersed through the ad are cartoon characters, some who are more innocent and seem comparable to the kind you’d see on Schoolhouse Rock, while others would be immediately recognisable to a post-insurrection sensibility as not so innocuous, namely a MAGA hat, a QAnon poster and an elephant donning a Viking headdress.
It then begins to introduce the future leaders of this hypothetical “new Republican party”, including Marjorie Taylor Greene – “the representative for the 14th district of QAnon”; Lauren Boebert – “armed and ready to tweet the house speaker’s whereabouts in the middle of an armed insurrection!”; and Ivanka Trump – “the people she called patriots on January 6th turned out to be cop killers”.
As each of the new “leaders” of this future party are introduced, a cartoon caricature appears, with Ms Greene including a tin-hat and Ms Boebert waving a handgun around like one of those dancing inflatables found at a used car lot.
Formed by disaffected Republicans ahead of the 2020 presidential election who viewed their mission statement as striving to keep Mr Trump and extremist Republicans running for re-election in close Senate races out of office, the Lincoln Project appears to be amping up its efforts again ahead of the November 2022 midterms.
In the caption sharing the cartoon on Thursday night, the group writes: “Anyone that thinks the GOP hasn’t veered into far-right extremism territory isn’t paying attention.”
Mr Trump and his allies have endorsed conspiracy-theory touting and election-denying officials in key swing states across the country. But some top GOP members are worried that fixating too heavily on Trump-related policies, namely denying the results of the 2020 election, could alienate their base ahead of the midterms, when they are considered favoured to achieve their goal of flipping both the House and the Senate given Joe Biden’s low approval ratings.
The ad hints at the danger posed to the GOP should they continue to pander to the pro-Trumpian, America-First policies that the former US president won office on in 2016.
In a fast-paced, ‘terms and conditions’-voice, the narrator delineates all the consequences that the group believes that the Republican party will face should they continue to embrace these figures.
“Terms and conditions apply, must abandon logic, reason and common sense. Unequal opportunity employer. Racist and conspiracy nuts welcome,” before closing with a final qualification: “Must worship Donald Trump like a god.”
