New Lincoln Project Ad Targets Donald Trump Impeachment

The latest ad by conservative super-PAC The Lincoln Project has called on Congress to impeach and convict President Donald Trump.

With lawmakers discussing on Wednesday whether to remove the president following the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol last week, the group tweeted a 46-second ad of the scenes of chaos, interspersed with Trump's rhetoric.

Tweeted with the succinct message "impeach," the ad starts with Trump telling the crowd last Wednesday before the riots that they had gathered for "one very, very basic and simple reason, to save our democracy."

To a background of dramatic music which has been a staple of the anti-Trump group's arresting media campaigning, the caption "Capitol under siege" appears over images of the crowd and the subsequent violence.

The video cuts to images of both the interior and exterior of the building in Washington, D.C. with protesters' shouts of "hang Mike Pence" being heard, in objection to the vice president's refusal to overturn the Electoral College results that Trump disputes.

The video segues to Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, telling a crowd, "Let's have trial by combat," as the caption "six dead" rolls over treated images of the chaos.

Then in a montage, Trump tells the crowd, "You will never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength," which is followed by a soundbite from a separate address he made later in which he appealed for calm, saying: "We love you, you're very special."

The footage then shows Trump telling reporters on Tuesday that what he told the crowds last Wednesday was "totally appropriate" as the caption "no remorse" is revealed. Finally, as Trump is heard saying, "we will not let them silence your voices," the words "impeach" and "convict" appear in quick succession in a much bigger font.

In another ad this week, the Lincoln Project took aim at Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over the storming of the Capitol for their support of Trump. The video told the lawmakers: "This is your coup."

Democrats should have enough votes on their own to pass the one article of impeachment in the House on Wednesday, but there are still question marks over which senators will back the move.

Meanwhile, a Morning Consult-Politico poll on Wednesday has shown that most voters (53 percent) support the House impeachment of Trump while 54 percent say the Senate should convict him and remove him from office. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.