The Lincoln Project released another ad slamming President Trump today, this time featuring a former Navy SEAL who said the president is not a real conservative.
Dan Barkhuff, a former Navy Seal and ER doctor, criticizes Trump for disrespecting the Constitution and conservative values in the ad, the second to feature him. Barkhuff is the founder of Veterans for Responsible Leadership.
“Protecting our freedom and the rules of the game is a fundamentally conservative act,” Barkhuff says in the video. “President Trump shows no such respect for the constitution, he and his cronies disrespect freedom of assembly, due process, and states’ rights.”
Former U.S Navy SEAL Dr. Dan Barkhuff knows @realDonaldTrump isn’t a conservative — he’s weak.
And he’s the most easily fixable problem in America today. pic.twitter.com/Ep5cCdY0pw
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 27, 2020
The Lincoln Project is run by Republicans opposed to Trump, including George Conway, the Washington lawyer married to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
“I’m an American combat veteran and a conservative. I don’t agree with Joe Biden on many issues. But one thing that we agree on is we are a nation of laws and the Constitution is a sacred document. It’s a document I fought for and some of my friends died for,” Barkhuff says in the ad.
Trump, he adds, shows “no such respect for the Constitution.”
“He and his cronies disrespect freedom of assembly, due process and states rights,” Barkhuff says, as the ad flashes to video clips of recent Black Lives Matter protests and federal officials detaining demonstrators.
The ad also flashed to a clip of Trump and several administration officials standing outside St. John’s Church, with Trump holding a Bible, that was taken after demonstrators were forcibly removed from Lafayette Square.
Erin Perrine, spokesperson for the Trump campaign, dismissed The Lincoln Project’s latest attack ad.
“This is the swamp – yet again – trying to take down the duly elected President of the United States,” Perrine said in a statement. “President Trump is the leader of a united Republican Party where he has earned 94 percent of Republican votes during the primaries – something any former president of any party could only dream of.”
It is the latest in a series of videos from the anti-Trump group, which have compared the former casino owner Trump to Biff Tannen from Back to the Future, dubbed his Fox News interview with a Seinfield-style laugh track, and questioned what Ghislaine Maxwell has on the president.
Since its formation in December, the Lincoln Project has raised $20 million from donors including Walmart heiress Christy Walton, Silicon Valley angel investor Ron Conway, hedge fund billionaire Andy Redleaf, and oil executive Sidney Jansma Jr.
The super-PAC was created by prominent GOP operatives including Conway, and John Weaver and Steve Schmidt, who both worked on John McCain’s 2008 campaign.