Commentary
Anti-Trump Camp Targets Provocative Ads On Facebook, Instagram To Mormons
- by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 25, 2016
The latest anti-Donald Trump conservative super PAC Make America Awesome campaign tried to sway Utah voters in advance of the state's caucuses on Tuesday by targeting a series of Facebook ads to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voters.
A series of three total ran on Facebook. The first featured Mitt Romney, and the second emphasized Trump's past support for pro-choice policies. The third ad featured nude images of Trump's wife Melania, a European fashion model., who posed nude for British GQ magazine in 2000.
The ads targeted around 10,000 Mormons of voting age, Liz Mair, the Republican strategist behind Make America Awesome, told Buzzfeed.
The campaign reproduces nude photos of Melania Trump inviting Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voters to meet "your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday." The same campaign running on Instagram targets woman who attend the church.
It's the first time the group has run ads asking voters to back a specific candidate.
Indeed, Cruz exceeded 50% of the vote in Utah, which would give him 40 of the state’s delegates.
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Laurie Sullivan is a writer and editor for MediaPost. You can reach Laurie at lauriesullivan@gmail.com.
Such tactics usually only serve to steel the resolve of Trump supporters. Instead of Make America Great they came up with Make America Awesome? That's the best they could do? Trump insults women so let's run nude photos of his wife?
While it's better to be safe than sorry, Trump's opponents could have saved some cash and dignity in Utah. Trump had already put himself at a disadvantage there by frequently bashing Romney and his religion.