A new ad from the Lincoln Project zeroed in on the new claims made by former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, who recently pleaded guilty to the charges against her in Georgia, perhaps demonstrating the dangers of what another Trump election would look like.
The anti-Trump super PAC’s caption on X reads, “Jenna Ellis admits it herself: it was a coup from the start. Trump knew he lost, yet he still tried his hardest to illegally maintain power.” The ad intermixes a new clip of Ms Ellis with 2020 clips of Mr Trump.
The ad begins with Ms Ellis saying, “I thought the claims and the ability to challenge the election results was essentially over.” The quote was taken from a new clip that captured her speaking to prosecutors during a private meeting about her conversation with Dan Scavino, Mr Trump’s then-chief of staff, after the 2020 election.
The ad then cuts to Mr Trump saying, “This election is now over. Congress has certified the results.”
The same clip of Ms Ellis plays again. She says, still talking about Mr Scavino, “He said to me, in a kind of excited tone: ‘Well, we don’t care and we’re not gonna leave.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’”
She said Mr Scavino claimed “the boss,” meaning Mr Trump, “is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power.” When Ms Ellis told Mr Scavino that “it doesn’t quite work that way,” he allegedly replied, “We don’t care.”
The ad returns to the former president making a speech. Mr Trump starts, “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election” — as clips of the violent mob on January 6 flash across the screen — and then he clarifies, “if I win.”
The ad ends with a “Make America Great Again” banner fluttering in front of Mr Trump’s face as he points to the camera and smiles.
Ms Ellis pleaded guilty last month, making her the fourth of 19 defendants in the case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to plead guilty, and a third member of the former president’s inner circle of attorneys to turn into a cooperating witness.
Despite the Fulton County charges — and the other federal and state lawsuits — against Mr Trump, he remains the prominent frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination.
