Impeach Trump Ad Links Putin Threat to Revolutionary War and Paul Revere

Ahead of President Donald Trump's one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin planned for Monday, a campaign to impeach the Republican leader is launching a national television advertisement casting Putin as a threat to democracy and calling on Congress members to protect America like Paul Revere did leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Related: Watch: Americans Call for Donald Trump Impeachment in New Ad Campaign Targeting Congress

The ad by the Need to Impeach campaign is slated to begin airing on several national broadcasting and cable TV stations on Saturday, also in light of Friday's indictment of 12 Russians in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible election collusion involving the Trump campaign.

In the minute-long ad, Need to Impeach founder Tom Steyer, a major Democratic donor, appears before the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Almost 250 years ago, two lanterns were hung here to warn of the incoming attack on America," Steyer says. "Today we have to acknowledge what our President won't—our democracy is under attack again.

"Donald Trump praises Vladimir Putin and meets with him on foreign soil, while rejecting our own law enforcement officials who say Putin launched a hostile attack on our last election, and is planning to do it again this year," Steyer continues.

The video flashes to several headlines in the news, including "FBI backs CIA view that Russia intervened to help Trump win election" in The Washington Post, "FBI accepts CIA conclusion that Russians hacked to help Trump" in USA Today, and "FBI, CIA Agree That Russia Was Trying To Help Trump Win The Election" in NPR.

"Why would an American President want to meet with a dictator who's trying to undermine our democracy? Is Trump again getting played by Putin, or is he conspiring with a man who helped put him in office?" Steyer asks.

"If Paul Revere and other patriots had waited to act until it was safe or politically correct, we would never have the country we have today," Steyer concludes. "It's time for Congress, Republicans and Democrats, to put their political interests aside and act on behalf of our country."

The campaign came up with the idea of invoking the Revolutionary War and Revere from hosting a series of town hall meetings across the U.S. in which Americans expressed they felt threatened, Need to Impeach's lead strategist Kevin Mack told Newsweek on Friday.

"We feel like democracy is under attack and it's time for patriotic Americans of any party to step up and hold Trump and his enablers accountable," Mack said. "Paul Revere is one of the best-known patriots in our history for warning fellow citizens, and we need all patriots from around the country to step up and say this needs to stop."

Mack said the ad campaign, which was paid for by Steyer and cost more than $1 million, highlights the urgency of beginning impeachment proceedings immediately, rather than waiting for the results of Mueller's probe.

"Republicans are using Trump to pass their agenda and Democrats are using Trump to hopefully win back a majority in the House of Representatives," Mack claimed. "Neither of those things are really patriotic. We need people to do what's right for the county, not for their own political futures."

Need to Impeach has gathered signatures from more than 5.4 million Americans on an online petition demanding that Congress remove Trump.