Trump mocked as his campaign threatens to sue super PAC over ad using his words to discourage mail voting
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump's campaign has warned of taking legal action and seeking criminal investigation into a super PAC that ran a reportedly misleading advertisement in Pennsylvania featuring clips of the former president discouraging Republicans from voting by mail.
According to NBC News, Trump has embraced the idea of a mail-in ballot at present and is actively encouraging his supporters to make use of the opportunity, even though he has been vocal against it for many years.
What did the ad say?
The ad that earned the ire of the Trump campaign is a 30-second video by the Pennsylvania Values PAC, which begins with the statement, "MAGA Patriots, listen to our president,” before it splices together sound bites of Trump condemning mail voting.
“Mail-in voting is totally corrupt, get that through your head,” Trump is seen saying in a clip. "There's fraud!" he exclaims in another, before going on to share how he believed votes were manipulated in that system.
The video ends with the on-screen text, “Stand strong with President Trump against mail in voting!”
Cease-and-desist letter issued by Trump campaign
The Trump campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter on Tuesday, June 25, to the group’s publicly listed treasurer, after the digital ad reportedly ran over the weekend.
“We are aware of your advertisement falsely claiming that President Trump has asked Pennsylvania voters not to vote by mail. This advertisement may constitute both a criminal and civil conspiracy to injure the rights of President Trump’s supporters to cast their ballots in Pennsylvania," read the letter.
"Cease and desist broadcasting, or otherwise distributing via the internet or elsewhere, this false advertisement immediately and preserve all relevant documents in anticipation of likely litigation."
The Trump campaign further argued in their letter that the group was violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, legislation enacted to protect Americans from political intimidation. The very same law was cited against Trump himself, as well as his supporters, over the Capitol riot of January 2021.
Internet reacts as Donald Trump changes stance on mail-in ballot
Netizens called out Donald Trump for his sudden change of mind over mail-in ballots, as the following comments on Facebook demonstrate.
"Can’t sue over something he said publicly a million times," wrote a user.
"Gee suddenly the truth matters!" exclaimed another.
"Desperation is strong with this one. After swearing up and down that it can't be trusted, now he does a 180," jibed a third.
"Trump files lawsuits against anyone telling the truth," chided a fourth user.
"He’s crazy, he’s the king of contradictions," commented a fifth.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
