The veterans’ advocacy group VoteVets is using the power of television to reach Donald Trump. VoteVets, which claims a backing of over 500,000 veterans and supporters, decidedly paid for an ad to be shown during the shows they know the president will watch. Namely, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and “Saturday Night Live,” with the latter being the one that sets Trump’s tweeting teeth on edge. The 30-second commercial features an unnamed soldier, who lost a leg during the Afghanistan War, doing squats as his voice-over delivers a potent message to the commander-in-chief.
In the ad, viewers can hear the soldier address Trump by first stating an awareness of the president’s commitment to watching morning shows and then proceeds to show the amputee performing a routine exercise. The soldier reminds Trump that he did lose the popular vote, is having trouble drawing a crowd, and his approval ratings keep tanking. But killing the Affordable Care Act for scores of veterans and banning Muslims will not help, the soldier continues. He then makes it clear that this is not the America he was willing to sacrifice his life or limb for. The soldier ends with: “You want to be a legitimate president, sir? Then act like one.”
How to reach a president
Peter Kauffmann, who is vice chair of VoteVets and a navy veteran, said the organization chose the “in Trump’s face” TV approach because the president has yet to set up the veterans’ hotline he had promised.
One veteran tweeted the question, remember us? He then wrote that since Trump won’t hold a White House meeting with vets, they will air their ad during the showing of “Saturday Night Live” to get his attention. VoteVets co-founder John Soltz pointed out Trump’s meetings with billionaires, but not with veterans’ groups. Even if Donald Trump did not see the commercial last night, millions of viewers have seen it, as the show is seeing its highest ratings in over 20 years.
Money well spent
VoteVets.org has supported mostly Democrats in past elections but never in a way which sent a direct message to a specific person. Soltz reason: why not spend $1 million geared in a direction that you know will get Trump’s attention because he tells everyone what he’s watching by his tweets? Soltz feels that through creating this commercial, vets are given a voice. Smart idea. The message has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter.
