All posts tagged "lincoln project"

‘Unimaginable is difficult to imagine’: New dystopian ad sparks debate on CNN

A CNN panel discussion turned into a debate over the realities of abortion in GOP-led red states now and across the country if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wins the November election and if he implements Project 2025 policies. Lincoln Project strategist Stuart Stevens smacked down CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings who attempted to mock the ad and its producers.

The Lincoln Project’s new ad, “State Line,” depicts a father in a dystopian America in the not-too-distant future under a Project 2025 abortion ban driving his daughter out of a red state to obtain medical services. A police officer pulls them over and starts to interrogate the daughter, having very personal and specific information about her pregnancy, her sister’s whereabouts, and the GPS coordinates of their destination “in one of those abortion states.”

“What are you, about eight weeks pregnant?” the officer says. “I see you’ve been spotting recently. You had any cramps, or nausea?”

ALSO READ: Rudy Giuliani finds a new low: platforming a Nazi“You been taking your prenatal vitamins?” he also asks.

As the interrogation heats up, the teenager says, “We have the right to travel.”

The police officer shakes his head and says, “Not anymore.”

The ad concedes with text that reads: “With Project 2025, a nationwide ban on abortion with out exception is enforced by anyone with a badge.”

CNN host Abby Phillips opened the discussion as two of the panelists were suppressing their laughter.

CNN’s Scott Jennings, a Karl Rove protege who has worked for President George W. Bush’s campaigns and in the Bush White House, began the commentary by mocking the ad and its producers.

“Well, I’m glad to see we have very serious people putting out very serious advertising,” snarked Jennings, who has also worked for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

He then turned his attention to The Lincoln Project’s Stuart Stevens, asking: “You make this?”

“I didn’t make it but I’m with The Lincoln Project and I think it’s going to be a very effective ad,” Stevens replied.

As Jennings began to respond, Stevens calmly continued talking, saying: “You know, the problem with the unimaginable is, it’s difficult to imagine.”

“And what you have here are these laws that are being passed – this actually has happened,” Stevens told Jennings, who appeared to be bobbing up and down. “I mean, they did criminalize someone going out of state in Ohio.”

“When you get these states that ban abortion, you know, they are going to track all of this,” Stevens added, apparently referencing the police officer’s comments to the teenager in the ad. “When you make something criminal – you’re a woman, and you’re using an app to track periods that could become evidence against you in a trial. That is the world here. And one thing about it is we only banned abortions in states like Mississippi for poor people, because everybody I grew up with in Mississippi who had money and something, went to get an abortion, they would get an abortion. And that is still going to happen, and it is absolutely more impactful on those [in a] lower economic status.”

“And this is what has happened. And the idea that you just sort of say, ‘well, you know, it’s just policy,’ something that people thought was a constitutional right for almost two generations has been taken away. And I think it is about liberty, and it is about the heavy hand of government.”

Panelist Katie Frost, a former communications director for Alabama’s Roy Moore’s failed Senate bid, said the ad to her felt like “fan fiction.”

She also claimed that abortion is “the only issue that [Vice President Kamala] Harris and the Democrats think they can run on. Every single other issue, they’re absolutely going to get destroyed on.”

Harris is currently beating Trump by 3.5 percentage points according to the FiveThirtyEight polling average.

“This is excellent,” observed award-winning producer, author, and filmmaker Melissa Jo Peltier, commenting on the Lincoln Project ad. “The idea that women would not be able to travel freely throughout the country…that their personal health would be monitored…it’s beyond creepy. It’s barbaric. What comes next? Menstrual huts?”

Watch the Lincoln Project’s new ad above, the entire CNN panel discussion below.

'No crying': Lincoln Project mocks cease-and-desist letter after ad blasts Trump advisers

A new ad running on Fox News in Mar-a-Lago from a group of anti-Trump Republicans prompted a cease-and-desist letter.

The Lincoln Project said Friday it received the letter over its ad, "Failures," which attacks top Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.

"They got it wrong," the ad says before playing a clip of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. "They told you that Biden should never quit — that you should spend all that time, all that money, so much money, focusing on Biden. How he's too old."

"Now it's Harris. She's younger than you — by a lot. Faster on her feet. Better than Biden was on camera. They were wrong. But they're wrong a lot. Wrong that Vance would help you. You know he's terrible. Wrong that you have the race sewn up. It's sad, Donald. They spend more time trying to keep you under control than trying to win. More time trying to keep you from looking at what they're spending. What they're doing behind your back. Sad."

The ad later questions, "If Susie and Chris got it so wrong, what else have they screwed up?"

ALSO READ: Donald Trump deep in debt while foreign money keeps coming: disclosure

The Lincoln Project blasted the two in a news release Friday afternoon as "losers" who "can’t stand to be laughed at or mocked."

The group defended the ad, saying that LaCivita and Wiles "apparently didn’t appreciate that our ad states the obvious–Chris and Susie have royally screwed up Trump’s campaign and selected for him the weirdest ever VP candidate — kookier even than Sarah Palin."

The organization then went on the offensive, attacking the MAGA leader, saying his campaign is in "shambles" along with "his mind," and mocking his decision to bring back Corey Lewandowski "to babysit" Wiles and LaCivita.

"Someone needs to tell Trump, Vance, Lewandowski, LaCivita, and Wiles that there’s no crying in politics," the group said, jabbing them as it suggested they stand to lose their jobs, which pay their "astronomical CONsulting fees."

"We would even feel bad for them if they cared about the country more than money and power. Regardless, if they can’t take the heat, they should probably stay out of the proverbial kitchen," The Lincoln Project said, insisting the ad will remain up.

Watch the ad below or at this link.

Ex-GOP strategist reveals Republicans' glaring 'weakness' following Trump's 'coronation'

A former GOP strategist rebuked the anything-but-normal Republican National Convention on Friday and revealed what he felt emerged as the party's greatest "weakness" — J.D. Vance.

Rick Wilson, a Republican media strategist, took to The Lincoln Project podcast to remark upon what he called the "coronation" of former President Donald Trump. He launched into his podcast blasting the normalization of the MAGA gathering.

"This idea that this was a normal Republican convention could have been dismissed at the very first milliseconds of it," he said. "This was the most bizarre transitional moment in American politics. And I don't think people have fully appreciated it yet."

Wilson then plays a clip of bulging-eyed fake wrestler Hulk Hogan ripping off his shirt at the convention to reveal a MAGA-red "Trump-Vance" cut-off.

From the first second, Wilson remarks it was a "coronation of Trump" — not a celebration of the party or platform.

"This was about the adoration and adulation of Donald Trump. It had a tent revival feel to it from the very beginning."

Wilson called it a "strangely, almost religious aspect" to the convention, partly because of the assassination attempt days earlier.

"You can see how they believe in this guy, how they treat and think about him. He is a God figure. He is their St. Bartholomew stripped from his flesh."

After Wilson called ear-bandage-wearing MAGA supporters the strangest small symbol of the week and likened Trump to a cult leader, he pointed out that the post-rationalist moment has started to show some cracks.

"I am fascinated more by the weakness of the GOP convention more than by its strength," he said.

The one strength the GOP showed, he jabbed: the party that often shares anti-LGBT policies and rhetoric managed to shut down Grindr in the Milwaukee area.

Then he revealed what he says became the party's greatest "weakness."

"I think one of the biggest exposures of a weakness in this convention is J.D. Vance," he said. "J.D. Vance is an OG never-Trumper. He loathes him. He despises him. He hates him. All these things for years and years and years."

Vance's political opportunity, argues Wilson, became dependent on becoming a passionate forever-Trumper.

"This is a classic example of the power of evil to corrupt weak people," he said, noting that upon closer examination, Vance (R-OH) is "kind of a weak guy."

"He is not a strong person," Wilson rails. "He's manipulated by his own ambition, by his own insecurities. And the funny thing about this was, a lot of people inside Trump's own orbit did not want J.D. Vance."

Those people, said Wilson, didn't trust Vance.

"J.D. was one of the original never-Trump pillars of our community against Donald. He was one of the original fighters against Donald. He made an articulate passionate set of cases against Donald," he said.

As such, the Lincoln Project tried to disrupt the MAGA campaign using Vance's own words criticizing Trump overlayed with footage of Trump reading a poem called "The Snake." To boot, one of the cracks in the choice is that Silicon Valley had to pony up millions to secure Vance, he said.

"Elon Musk had to buy J.D. Vance for Donald Trump," said Wilson. "That $50 million a month — he's buying J.D. Vance for Donald Trump."

Vance, he added, is part of the tech movement for a "dark enlightenment" and his pro-Putin rhetoric has turned off many on the right who continue to believe Russia is a key threat.

Watch the clip below or at this link here.

Wisconsin GOP details aftermath of $2.3 million theft

The Republican Party of Wisconsin has vowed to not get fooled again — at least not like it did in October 2020, according to a letter the party committee sent the Federal Election Commission on Friday night.

After initially losing more than $2.3 million to hackers just days before Election Day 2020, the Republican Party of Wisconsin told the FEC that it's taken "concrete steps" to better defend against fraud after falling victim to one of the nation's largest cybertheft incidents that targeted a political committee.

ALSO READ: Trump-nominated FEC leader: let political donors hide their identities

The Republican Party of Wisconsin "has revised its internal controls and compliance procedures to better defend against modern cybersecurity threats such as hacking," the committee wrote the FEC in an unsigned letter sent in response to questions from federal regulators. "For example, the RPW’s Controller now calls the recipient of each wire transfer to confirm the wiring instructions immediately prior to each wire transfer. The Controller also confirms with the recipient that they have received the funds. These concrete steps help safeguard against fraud due to altered or fraudulent invoices. In addition, the RPW requires staff to participate in cybersecurity training to keep them apprised of best practice and the latest phishing schemes."

In its letter to the FEC, the Republican Party of Wisconsin also offered new details about the incident itself: "In October of 2020, unknown individuals not affiliated with the RPW hacked the email accounts of RPW staff who had roles in the expense and payment approval process. With access to RPW staff email accounts, the hackers were able to intercept legitimate invoices, change the payment information, and email the altered, fraudulent invoices to colleagues for payment. Over the course of approximately one week (October 12-20, 2020), the hackers misappropriated a total of $2,348,963.05 from the RPW’s federal account."

The Republican Party of Wisconsin added: "The RPW completed an internal investigation and confirmed that no other fraudulent activity occurred beyond the transactions identified above. The FBI’s investigation also confirmed that outsiders perpetrated the hacking and fraud."

ALSO READ: Biden campaign surrenders tainted crypto cash

An email and voicemail left by Raw Story for the committee were not immediately returned.

The hackers had stolen the money from an account the Republican Party of Wisconsin was using to help try to reelect President Donald Trump, with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously reported.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel further noted that the Republican Party of Wisconsin's then-chairman, Andrew Hitt, explained in late 2020 that "hackers manipulated invoices from four vendors who were being paid for direct mail for Trump’s reelection efforts as well as for pro-Trump material such as hats to be handed out to supporters. Invoices and other documents were altered so when the party paid them, the money went to the hackers instead of the vendors."

Following an FBI investigation, the Wisconsin GOP recouped all of the lost money by mid-2022.

But that was long after the 2020 election, when Trump lost Wisconsin to now-President Joe Biden by less than one percentage point — fewer than 21,000 votes.

Thieves striking numerous politicians

During the past year, Raw Story has identified numerous federal politicians and political committees that have experienced thefts — large and small — from their campaign accounts.

Republicans and Democrats alike have been targeted. Some have recouped some or all of their lost money while others have not.

Among the most notable incidents of late:

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) was the victim of a cybertheft incident in late 2022 that initially cost his campaign $690,000.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) lost $157,626 from his campaign.
The Retired Americans PAC, a super PAC that supports Democrats, lost $150,000.
The Managed Funds Association PAC lost $147,000.
President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign committee lost $70,000.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) saw his campaign committee lose $40,000 earlier this year because of a stolen check.
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC, lost $35,000 earlier this year.

Other high-profile politicians to lose smaller amounts from thefts of their campaign accounts include Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

In November, check fraud caused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's political action committee to lose nearly $4,700.

‘Fraudulent’: Trump tormentor Lincoln Project loses big money in cybertheft scheme

The Lincoln Project — a super PAC that ranks among former President Donald Trump’s leading antagonists — lost $35,000 in what it described to federal regulators as “fraudulent” transactions committed by cyberthieves, Raw Story has confirmed.

The Lincoln Project, which has produced a torrent of anti-Trump ads and whose leaders are fixtures on cable news, blamed the lost money on “hackers” who targeted a committee vendor.

“A vendor’s email was hacked, with the hackers producing authentic-looking invoices that were sent from our vendor’s legitimate email account. The hack affected multiple clients of the vendor, including Lincoln Project,” spokesman Greg Minchak told Raw Story, adding that the “transactions did not impact our operations in any way in the fight for a democratic future for our nation.”

ALSO READ: 16 worthless things Trump will give you for your money

Once the Lincoln Project’s vendor discovered the hack, it notified the groups and “our compliance firm took immediate steps to mitigate the problem,” Minchak said. “This included notifying our bank’s fraud department and implementing new procedures to confirm invoices and payments. Since it was the vendor that was hacked, we are letting them and our bank's fraud department lead any investigation.”

Asked to identify the vendor, Minchak declined.

“We value the privacy of the vendor and have no additional comment,” he said.

Numerous vendors received five-figure payments from the Lincoln Project during the first three months of 2024, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Federal Election Commission disclosure for The Lincoln Project The Lincoln Project disclosed to the Federal Election Commission that it had lost $35,000 because of "fraudulent" transactions, including this $15,000 transaction on Feb. 28 that it labeled as an "ACH Payment." (Source: Federal Election Commission)

Among them: law firm S. R. Labby LLP, law firm Holland & Hart LLP, law firm Elias Law Group, consulting firm Eve Berry & Partners LLC, administrative consulting firm Veracity Reigns LLC, media production firm Manhattan Creative Group, payroll vendor ADP, political strategy consulting firm Two Rivers Public Affairs, communications consulting firm Viking Strategies LLC and political consultant Message Mountain Productions.

Also: campaign merchandise vendor Grossman Marketing Group, political consultant Intrepid Media, advertising firm Third Act Media LLC, television advertising consultant 202 Consulting Solutions LLC, podcasting production company Podcast Village LLC, campaign finance compliance firm Capitol Compliance Associates Inc., public relations firm Leidar USA Inc., political consultant Lever Communications, fundraising consultant Katz Watson Group Inc. and organizing software company NationBuilder.

Minchak is himself a Lincoln Project contractor who earns $10,000 each month, federal records indicate.

Trouble for Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project sprang into existence in late 2019 as a hub for disaffected Republicans and conservatives itching to attack Trump. Rick Wilson, Reed Galen, Tara Setmayer and Stuart Stevens are among its most visible leaders.

A slew of anti-Trump millionaires and billionaires — hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel, Hollywood billionaire David Geffen, media mogul Amos Hostetter Jr. and oil fortune heir Gordon Getty among them — helped the Lincoln Project raise more than $85.1 million during the 2020 election cycle.

It became the subject of a Showtime documentary series.

But the Lincoln Project has faced significant difficulties as it attempts to damage Trump ahead of the 2024 election. A sexual harassment scandal involving co-founder John Weaver led to his departure. Co-founder George Conway called for the Lincoln Project’s dissolution. The New York Times raised questions about the group’s spending habits and financial arrangements.

John Weaver on C-SPAN John Weaver, the chief strategist for the presidential campaigns of Republicans John McCain and John Kasich, helped co-found the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, but left the group in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. (Courtesy: C-SPAN)

And so far this election cycle, the Lincoln Project has yet to replicate the financial success it experienced during mid- and late-2020.

During the 2024 election cycle, the Lincoln Project has raised just short of $11 million through March 31, according to FEC records — raising about $2.9 million and spending more than $1.9 million from Jan. 1 through March 31. It reported having about $2 million cash on hand at the end of March.

Technically organized as a hybrid super PAC, the Lincoln Project may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for Biden and against Trump — or for or against any politician or political cause. It may also raise federally limited amounts of money that it, in turn, may directly donate to political candidates it supports.

Dozens of political committee thefts

The Lincoln Project theft is only the latest in a series of thefts from high-profile political committees this year.

The campaign of Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and the political action committee of hotelier Marriott International were also recently hit by thieves, federal records reviewed by Raw Story indicate.

For Aguilar — the No. 3 Democrat in the U.S. House as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus — his campaign lost a total of $633.83 on March 1 from six “fraudulent” charges made with web services company GoDaddy.com, according to FEC records.

Marriott’s PAC lost nearly $7,500 because of what it described to the FEC as two “unauthorized/fraudulent” debits from its account — one on Feb. 20 and another on March 12.

But the PAC appeared to recoup the money, telling federal regulators that its bank, Truist Bank, issued a “credit for unauthorized disbursement” for both of the debits.

Aguilar’s campaign committee and congressional office did not respond to phone and email messages from Raw Story seeking comment. Marriott International likewise did not respond to messages inquiring about the circumstances of the “unauthorized/fraudulent” debits.

The campaign committee of Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the campaign of Republican congressional candidate Scott Armey of Texas, the United Mine Workers of America – Coal Miners PAC and a Planned Parenthood PAC are among other political committees hit by thieves in recent months, Raw Story reported.

Dozens of others have been hit during the past several years. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), for example, have experienced thefts from their campaign accounts at some point during the past two years.

GOP strategist flags 'the single most important factor in ensuring Trump's defeat'

A GOP strategist on Sunday explained what he thinks is "the single most important factor in ensuring Trump's defeat."

Mike Madrid, who served as the Golden State's GOP political director before co-founding the group of current and former anti-Trump Republicans known as the Lincoln Project, encouraged Nikki Haley to stay in the GOP primary race to weaken the ex-president. The Lincoln project also recently trolled Trump at CPAC using an artificial intelligence ad that mimics his disappointed dad.

Specifically, the activist said that Republican primary voters who vote for a candidate other than Trump "are significantly less likely to return to him in the general."

ALSO READ: Prison president: How Donald Trump could serve from behind bars

"This is where resources should be spent. Everything else is a distraction," he said on Sunday. "GOP defections will be the single largest factor in the November outcome."

He continued:

"In Feb 2020 only 6% of Republican voters were saying they wouldn’t support Trump in the general election. In Feb 2024 we are seeing polling consistently at 3X that. Most/many will go back but it’s far stronger positioning to beat him if there’s a targeted effort to get them."

Madrid also listed challenges that President Joe Biden faces, including "defection of minority voters, depressed base turnout, and third party candidates."

"2 out of 3 of these are mitigated with GOP defections and the third still hurts Trumps chances," according to the strategist.

Conservative lawyer George Conway chimed in on that, saying, "The fact that the number of anti-Trump GOP voters is already so high at this point is actually astonishing, given how far off the radar screen he has been over the past couple of years."

Madrid agreed with Conway's analysis.

"Yes. Moving these voters is the single most important factor in ensuring Trumps defeat," the strategist affirmed.

'It'll be Bedlam': Trump hit for 'veiled threats' immediately after immunity hearing

Donald Trump made insurrection threats Tuesday outside a hearing on whether the former president is immune from criminal charges linked to the U.S. Capitol attacks on Jan. 6, his conservative critics say.

The Lincoln Project shared video Tuesday of Trump after his presidential immunity hearing in Washington D.C., during which the former president predicts what his supporters would do if special counsel Jack Smith won his election interference case.

"It'll be bedlam in the country,” Trump said. “It's a very bad thing. It's a very bad precedent. It's the opening of a Pandora's Box.”

While Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, Smith contends the former president conspired to overturn the last presidential election in the time between the November 2020 election and the U.S. Capitol attack months later.

Smith argues Trump's messaging to angry followers was intended to spur violence.

The case has been stalled until a higher court can decide whether or not those actions are protected by presidential immunity. Trump says yes, Smith says no.

The Lincoln Project, a group of vocally anti-Trump Republican strategists, was quick to share the comment with its followers and express outrage at the timing.

ALSO READ: Judgment year has arrived: Will America pass her greatest test yet or will she fail?

“More veiled threats of insurrection from an insurrectionist,” the group wrote, “just days after the anniversary of MAGA's January 6 insurrection attempt.”

Followers, meanwhile, took umbrage with the Lincoln Project's wording.

“Nothing veiled about it,” wrote DanRegs.

Added IslandDweller, "’Bedlam’ and ‘opening a Pandora's box’ are hardly veiled.”

Watch the video below or click here.

Lincoln Project ad taunts Trump over Ivanka's testimony: 'She'll sell you out'

Et tu, Ivanka?

A video posted by The Lincoln Project on Wednesday pours gasoline on former President Trump's figurative pyre pile.

The cadre of GOP and ex-GOP anti-trumpers predict in the needling ad that the presumable apple of her father's eye is going to speak an truth inconvenient to the former president, named in a $250 million fraud lawsuit in New York State.

"Oh Donnie, she's taking the stand," a sultry woman's voiceover gushes. "The one you always wanted and could never have.

"She and Jared tried to get away from you, to ignore you, using your name to make billions.

"You're embarrassing to her. Uncomfortable. Gross"

The video cuts to a speech Ivanka made where she states: "My dad's communication style is not to everyone's taste."

The narrator shifts from near-incestuous suggestions to intrigue about what sort of backroom deals have been cut in this case, which has seen her brothers Don Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as her father, be questioned under oath.

"She's looking for an exit," the narration continues. "Freedom from you."

The prediction is that Ivanka is going to testify unscathed while her family potentially suffers the consequences.

"So when she testifies, she'll sell you out," the VoiceOver is heard saying. "Maybe she already has."

Twisting the knife even more, the narrator claims that not only will the 45th president be heading to the slammer (Trump has been charged with criminal offenses in New York, Georgia and Washington, D.C.), but that he will be ignored by his favorite daughter.

"All those years hoping she'd be the one, now she's just a witness against you,"the narrator says with delight. "And if you think she'll ever visit you in prison think again," ending in a chuckle and the hard shutting of metal doors.

Watch the ad here.

'Division and destruction': Rupert Murdoch slammed for creating 'MAGA propaganda factory'

Fox News founder and right-wing international media tycoon Rupert Murdoch announced his intent to step down from his position on Thursday, clearing the way for his son Lachlan to take over the business fully.

The change is unlikely to have much impact on the editorial content of Murdoch's outlets. However, the Lincoln Project was quick to send the Australian-born billionaire off with a good-riddance victory lap, calling him an "arsonist who set fire to American politics to make billions."

“Murdoch created an extremist MAGA propaganda factory that poisoned the minds of millions of Americans for power and profit. An immigrant himself, Murdoch did more to encourage hatred of those who would come here to make a better life for their families than any other person in modern history," said the anti-Trump group in a statement. “Murdoch and FOX News pushed the false conspiracies of a stolen election that enraged their viewers until they finally stormed the Capital. Fox has already had to pay nearly $1 billion for their election lies, and we sincerely wish them billions more in costs and damages."

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The legacy of Murdoch, the statement said, is one of "division and destruction," where he pitted Americans against each other for profit with his right-wing machine.

Although top Fox News personalities supported Trump throughout his presidency, reporting has revealed that Murdoch eventually soured on him and wants another Republican to lead the party going forward. He even reportedly considered firing Sean Hannity, one of the network's most pro-Trump anchors, to try to head off the $1.6 billion lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for promoting election lies against them, which the network eventually settled for just under $800 million.

The bad blood has been mutual; Trump has escalated his attacks against Fox News, targeting Murdoch specifically in his rants on his social media, and blasting him as a "globalist" in contrast to Trump's "America First" agenda.

Rick Wilson trolls Trump in ‘wellness check’ video

Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson on Tuesday trolled Donald Trump in a “wellness check” video that's dripping with sarcasm.

“Hey Donald, it’s Rick,” the video starts out.

“I’m just doing a wellness check on you know, I know you’ve had a really bad weekend, you had a bad day yesterday and you’re having a bad day today. I just wanna make sure you're okay buddy, honestly,” Wilson says as he places his hand over his heart.

The video cites recent events likely weighing on the former president, including the Russia crisis and Monday’s release of audio recording from his Bedminster, NJ, golf club.

“Over the weekend you saw your friend Vladimir Putin basically sign his own death warrant by showing weakness, and no dictator can show weaknesses, as you know. He will be dead before the 2024 election cycle most likely, and you won’t have your sugar daddy, oops,” Wilson said.

“Second thing, last night when CNN released that audio of you bragging about your crime, of you admitting on tape – again – that you were flashing classified documents around and you didn't have the authority to classify them as a former president."

“Chef's kiss, buddy.”

Wilson also notes Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling against the so-called “independent legislature theory” that elections experts say would have undermined democracy.

“And finally today, the Supreme Court ruled against you. The independent state legislatures thing was a longtime conservative product that they were trying to put together to help the GOP and your justices ruled against it.

“Congrats Don, you’re having a bad week and by the way, it's about to get worse,” Wilson says as he winks at the camera.

Watch the video below or click here.

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