MoveOn.org, a progressive digital organizing group, announced Tuesday that it will be running a multimillion dollar campaign to keep presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump out of the White House, and is already testing messages in key states.
“Donald Trump, the now-presumptive Republican nominee, and his hateful and bigoted rhetoric are not only a political threat but a clear and present danger to the very fabric of our nation,” said Ilya Sheyman, MoveOn.org Political Action executive director, in a statement.
President Obama and Hillary Clinton have also sharpened their joint line of attack against Mr. Trump, accusing the GOP front-runner of lacking the intellect and temperament to be commander in chief.
Mrs. Clinton, who has yet to lock up the Democratic nomination, said Tuesday that Mr. Trump “has given no indication that he understands the gravity of the responsibilities that go with being commander in chief.”
“At some point, he’s going to have to be held to the standard we hold anybody running for president and commander in chief,” she said on MSNBC. “What is it you’re proposing to do as president and commander in chief? So far we haven’t seen any of that. We’ve seen a lot of rhetoric, we’ve seen a lot of insults.”
Her criticism of Mr. Trump’s qualifications to be commander in chief came on the same day that the New York real estate mogul cemented his status as the presumptive GOP nominee with a victory in the Indiana primary over Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
MoveOn.org, meanwhile, has been supporting the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernard Sanders, but said it will continue to support Mr. Sanders in Democratic races against Hillary Clinton even as it goes on the attack against Mr. Trump.
“It is clear we must be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Given this, tonight we are announcing that we are committed to running a multimillion-dollar campaign to keep [Mr. Trump] out of the White House and to ensure the country rejects his hateful and dangerous rhetoric,” Mr. Sheyman said.
He went on to call Mr. Trump “un-American”, and said that his success with voters is a “sad but telling statement” about the Republican Party.
He also cautioned Republicans in vulnerable races from trying to “run away” from Mr. Trump, saying “the record of Trump’s outrageous, offensive and outright un-American comments and actions is a mile long and he, and you, will not be able to run from it.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Pompi can be reached at jpompi@washingtontimes.com.
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