Trump now turning out fake ads
Those of us who thought we could sleep easy at night knowing there won鈥檛 be another presidential election for the next three-and-a-half years were wrong.
The 2020 presidential campaign, it seems, has already begun.
Last week, President Trump fired the first salvo in what appears to be his bid for re-election.
It鈥檚 only 1,282 days before election day 2020, so Mr. Trump has decided to get a head start by hitting the airwaves with campaign ads.
He simply can鈥檛 help himself.
His addiction to perpetually campaigning is a pre-existing condition, for which there鈥檚 no known cure.
Ask him anything about anything, and he鈥檒l tell you he won his 鈥渇irst鈥� presidential campaign by a landslide.
So, why not tout his 100-day 鈥渁ccomplishments,鈥� with a $1.5 million campaign ad?
That ad, just like the man it鈥檚 about, stretches the truth beyond credulity.
First, within hours of it hitting the airwaves, the initial ad had to be pulled.
It seems it contained the image of Trump鈥檚 National Security Advisor, Lt. General 鈥淗.R.鈥� McMaster.
Unfortunately, McMaster appeared in his military uniform.
That鈥檚 a clear violation of Pentagon rules, because there鈥檚 a bar against people in military uniforms appearing in campaign ads.
Trump was probably unaware of that rule. I wonder why McMaster didn鈥檛 know about it either.
After that initial ad disappeared, a new one, minus the military garbed McMaster, replaced it.
That was only a minor problem with the ad.
The claims within it range from the hilarious to the downright ridiculous.
The ad鈥檚 narrator claims, in his breathless baritone, that 鈥淎merica has never seen such success,鈥� as in Trump鈥檚 first 100 days in office.
I object.
What success?
He鈥檚 had two travel bans blocked by several federal courts; he failed to get anybody willing to pay for that blasted border wall; he鈥檚 not made good on his promise to restrict federal funding for sanctuary cities; and his plan to 鈥渞epeal and replace鈥� Obamacare is looking more and more like Obamacare-lite.
And if, as the narrator claims, 鈥淎merica has never seen such success,鈥� then why hasn鈥檛 America responded?
According to Gallup polling, Trump鈥檚 first 100 days in the White House has produced the lowest job approval numbers of any president since Gallup started taking note of them back in 1953.
And worse, every president, except for Trump, has had much higher job approval numbers compared to their job disapproval numbers during their first three months in office.
For instance, the difference between President Obama鈥檚 job approval and his job disapproval was plus 36 percent.
Trump鈥檚 is minus 13 percent.
Back to that ad.
When the announcer proclaims that Trump has the 鈥淏iggest tax cut plan in history,鈥� the graphic on the screen says the 鈥淏iggest tax cut in history.鈥�
Trump is leading, by misleading.
And let鈥檚 face it, there鈥檚 not the slightest chance that the cuts he鈥檚 proposing will survive any form of congressional approval.
Then there鈥檚 the ad鈥檚 phony claim that 鈥渃ompanies are investing in American jobs again,鈥� while the onscreen graphic says 鈥淔ACT: 500,000+ JOBS CREATED.鈥�
That鈥檚 not a 鈥淔ACT.鈥�
It鈥檚 really a clever bit of Trumpian sleight-of-hand.
Those numbers included January jobs created. Mr. Trump didn鈥檛 take office until Jan. 20. He鈥檚 taking credit for jobs that were created under President Obama.
The FACT is that 317,000 jobs have been created since Trump took over.
And to imply that job growth started on Jan. 20, after it stagnated under Obama, is a complete fib.
As of March, the economy has experienced 77 straight months of labor increases.
All but two of those months were under Obama.
What Trump campaign ad would be complete without a cheap shot? Up pop the words 鈥淔AKE NEWS鈥� to highlight that Trump鈥檚 鈥渢ax cuts鈥� are being disregarded by media.
That鈥檚 a self-defeating proposition.
If the Trump 鈥渃ampaign鈥� wants to place those ads on mainstream media outlets, somebody should have realized they鈥檇 refuse to run ads that accuse them of being 鈥淔AKE NEWS.鈥�
Self-realization isn鈥檛 Trump鈥檚 Trump card.
Edward A. Owens is a three time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.