Though Hillary Clinton still hasn’t wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination, a pro-Clinton super PAC has released two new ads attacking presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump that are slated to be part of a multimillion dollar buy across several key battleground states starting this week.
The ads from the group Priorities USA Action have a clear eye toward female voters. In one, people mouth along to Mr. Trump’s words as he says things like, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes — blood coming out of her wherever.”
The “blood” comment is a reference to Fox News host Megyn Kelly, with whom Mr. Trump has feuded since the first GOP debate last August. Mr. Trump made the remarks soon after that debate, in which he had objected to her line of questioning. He later said only a deviant would think he was referring to her menstrual cycle.
The timing of the ad releases coincides with a prime-time special Tuesday evening on Fox that includes Ms. Kelly’s highly-anticipated one-on-one interview with Mr. Trump.
The other ad uses Mr. Trump’s own declaration that “nobody respects women more than Donald Trump,” then goes on to play remarks from him about Planned Parenthood funding, the “blood” comment and his statement from a town hall earlier this year that women who undergo illegal abortions should face punishment.
He later clarified that the person performing the abortion, not the woman, would be the one held legally responsible in that situation.
Referring to the first ad, Mr. Trump responded on Twitter Tuesday morning by saying that it misrepresents the final line.
” ’You can tell them to go BLANK themselves’ — was about China, NOT WOMEN!” he tweeted.
“Amazing that Crooked Hillary can do a hit ad on me concerning women when her husband was the WORST abuser of woman in U.S. political history,” he also tweeted.
CNN reported Monday that the group is slated to spend $6 million on the ads in a buy that starts this week in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and Nevada.
“Our focus is on making sure that whoever the nominee is — now we think it’s likely it’s going to be Hillary Clinton — but we want to make sure that we are talking about Donald Trump,” Guy Cecil, chief strategist for the group, said on Monday’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC.
“That will be the focus of our work. It’s the focus of our ads, and ultimately it will accrue to the benefit not just of the presidential race, but Senate races, House races, governor’s races — everyone up and down the ticket,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.