President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign released a new political ad on Tuesday chastising Democratic members of Congress for their posture and facial expressions during last week’s State of the Union address, echoing denouncements from the president earlier this week.
In the ad, footage of Trump’s address pans to the Republican side of the chamber, where lawmakers are seen launching to their feet and clapping. The video quickly jumps to close-ups of several prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Overlays in the ad call the behavior “disgraceful” and say Democrats are “disrespecting our country.”
“President Trump’s State of the Union address was so profound that even the mainstream media called it ‘strong’ and ‘inspirational,’” said Michael Glassner, executive director of the Trump campaign, in a statement on Tuesday. “Yet, our ad demonstrates that the unprecedented expressions of disrespect shown by the Democrats towards our President, our people, and our country were also profound ― for the wrong reasons.”
He continued: “The breathtaking indifference in reaction to President Trump’s calls for unity and to the President’s bold stories of freedom-loving heroes speaks for itself. The Democrats just sat there, and they were disgraceful.”
Democrats did, in fact, voice their discontent during the State of the Union, Trump’s first since assuming office. Many lawmakers stayed seated during some of the more rousing and self-congratulatory moments of the president’s speech, and his extreme comments on immigration drew audible boos.
The president made similar claims to the ad earlier this week, when he said Democrats who did not clap for him were un-American and treasonous.
“Can we call that treason?” Trump asked during a speech in Ohio on Monday. “Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much. ... Even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yeah, I guess, why not.”
Lawmakers are working, once again, toward a bipartisan budget deal to fund the federal government by Thursday. Such negotiations seemed to be progressing, but Trump waded into the debate on Tuesday, saying he’d “love to see” another government shutdown “if we can’t get this stuff taken care of.”
“If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don’t want safety, then shut it down,” the president said, referring to Republican efforts to increase military spending.