Trump releases Hollywood style campaign video featuring Obama, Bryan Cranston, Rosie O'Donnell and others
President’s video comes over a year and a half before 2020 election
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has released a Hollywood-style 2020 campaign advert, putting together a montage showing the president alongside images of some of his biggest political enemies — prompting some healthy ridicule online.
The video features Barack Obama, as well as actors Rosie O’Donnell, Bryan Cranston, and Amy Schumer, among others.
Set to a dramatic score, the video touted the upcoming election as an historic vote to continue Mr Trump’s legacy.
“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they call you racist,” the video proclaims.
Mr Trump has repeatedly been called a racist — both during his 2016 campaign and as president — and has refused to denounce white supremacy as president. In addition, Mr Trump has called Mexicans criminals and racists as a major part of his push for border security with Mexico.
The video continues on to show footage of the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and of a Fox News article related to the Mueller report proclaiming that no collusion was found between Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
“Your vote proved them all wrong,” the video says, before showing a gathering of African Americans wearing Make America Great Again merchandise, and the meting between the president and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
The video was quickly ridiculed online, with commentators asking why such dramatic music was being used, and others saying the quality feels awfully similar to a propaganda video.
Later, on Wednesday morning, Warner Bros announced it was taking legal action against Mr Trump after he used music from The Dark Knight Rises in the two-minute video.
The US president applied the music, titled “Why Do We Fall?” and composed by Hans Zimmer, to his 2020 re-election campaign video.
Following news of Warner Bros’ legal action, the tweet – which also featured the 2012 sequel’s title cards – was still available but the video had been replaced by a message stating: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments