So God Made A Dictator

Why we made this ad.

Last week, Trump started promoting “God Made Trump” an ad using an AI generated voiceover of Paul Harvey. As we’ve seen more and more MAGA evangelicals abandon all their stated principles and beliefs in an act of sweeping idolatry.

Some ads take days or weeks of creative process, iteration, and revision. This was not one of them. This ad was rattled off into Notes on my iPhone and our brilliant production team took the concept and ran with it, cutting the spot in mere hours. I’m a decent writer, but my team are the elite of the elite in this hard business.

At the Lincoln Project, we don’t pretest focus group and massage our ads to fit the least common denominator. No one is served by squeezing bold ideas into some kind of easily digestible paste. We assert from a position of belief and strength, and the understanding that normalcy bias across American society is the worst enemy. A reporter told me earlier the ad was “shocking.”

I responded, “Thank you.” I want it to shock you. I want it to shock America. After nine long years of this fight, Trump and his allies rely on the shrug of “Oh, it’s just Trump’s locker room talk again.”

It’s not. The unholy marriage of a dictator and a religious movement is more dangerous, and more pendant, than anyone wants to believe.

This ad will be airing in Mar-A-Lago next week, and I’m certain Trump will be thrilled. I hope you’ll share it widely.