President Biden’s campaign on Friday released a new ad narrated by actor Robert De Niro that aims to remind voters of the chaos of President Donald J. Trump’s presidency and warn them that a second term for him would be even worse.
The ad is part of the Biden campaign’s $14 million advertising push in May and will air on television and digital platforms in battleground states and on cable TV channels nationwide.
De Niro has openly opposed the Trump administration, calling him a “babe-in-chief” at the 2018 National Board of Review awards and blasting him with expletives at the Tony Awards the same year.
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The film begins with De Niro’s distinctive voice over footage of President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
“We knew Trump was out of control when he was president, from his late-night tweets to drinking bleach to tear-gassing people to photo-ops,” De Niro said, “and then he lost the 2020 election and pissed himself off.” (The bleach reference was a reference to Trump’s suggestion that “injecting” disinfectant into the body could help treat the coronavirus.)
The actor accused Trump of “desperately trying to hold on to power”, threatening to rule as a “dictator” if he wins the 2024 election and saying he wants to “abolish the Constitution”.
The ad then plays a video of Trump speaking at a campaign rally.
“If I’m not elected, it will be a bloodbath,” the former president said.
What the ad is trying to do
The Biden campaign believes voters are still waking up to the fact that the November election will be a battle between Biden, a historically unpopular candidate, and Trump.
Americans will face their first major warning when Biden and Trump debate in Atlanta on June 27. The new ad is the first in a months-long effort by the Biden campaign to shape the debate’s story and turn the election into a referendum not just on Biden but also on Trump’s four years in office.
In a memo accompanying De Niro’s ad, Biden’s campaign chair, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, said the Biden team would seek to portray Trump as dangerous and erratic.
“We intend to ensure that voters judging this election are reminded of the chaos and damage Trump caused as president and why they ousted him four years ago,” O’Malley Dillon wrote, adding that the choice between the two candidates was “becoming clear to voters.”
She said the campaign will focus on three key issues ahead of the debate — abortion, democracy and economic fairness — and will also highlight the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the June 12, 2016, deadly shooting at Orlando gay nightclub Pulse.
O’Malley Dillon also taunted Trump, suggesting he might not attend the debate.
