A short history of cringe Xmas ads from GOP presidential candidates
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On Christmas Eve, Donald Trump's presidential campaign released an unsettlingly hagiographic holiday-themed ad.
The one-minute spot is the latest in a long line of cringe-inducing ads from Republican presidential candidates, tightly embracing the holy Christian day in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
But before we journey through this queasy history, here's what's leading the Washington Monthly website:
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Trump’s Laughable Claim of Immunity: Law professor Peter M. Shane explains why "no court comprising constitutional originalists will uphold Trump’s arguments" in favor of preventing the prosecution of former presidents. Click here for the full story.
The Wrong Reasons to Keep Trump on the Ballot: Garrett Epps, Washington Monthly Legal Affairs Editor, takes apart the argument that the Fourteenth Amendment requirement that officeholders cannot have "engaged in insurrection" does not apply to Trump. Click here for the full story.
Why We Need a New Dickens: The still relevant 1988 classic from Matthew Cooper, now-Washington Monthly Executive Editor, Digital, laments the lack of "an artist who commands global fame and unalloyed praise and whose work helps those who need help the most." Click here for the full story.
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The new Trump ad features former White House Press Secretary-turned-Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders telling a story about Trump's Christmas 2018 visit to American troops in Iraq.
In her dramatic telling, Air Force One landed "in war-torn Western Iraq" with "no lights on the runway." The assembled troops "absolutely erupted" when Trump entered the base, proof that he had restored "patriotism" to America.
Left out of the gauzy tale: Trump publicly shared photos and video from the staged event that exposed members of the Navy's Seal Team 5. He angered Iraqi officials as the surprise visit included no meetings with them, prompting calls for troop withdrawals.
(On Christmas Day, Trump also posted on YouTube a video of his remarks at the December 2017 National Christmas Tree Lighting.)
Trump's spot is the latest in a growing list of Christmas-themed, often cringe-inducing, ads from Republican presidential candidates, designed to build bonds with Iowa's heavily evangelical caucus electorate.
Holiday ads began in the 2008 primary, when the January 3 date for the Iowa caucus made campaigning over the holiday season unavoidable.
Former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister (and Gov. Sanders's father) Mike Huckabee played canny identity politics with the ad "What Really Matters." Huckabee sympathized with viewers "worn out" by political ads, and offered "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ, and being with our family and our friends."
Less canny was Rudy Giuliani, who was under the impression he had a sense of humor.
In "Holiday Wishes," Giuliani said what he wants for Christmas is a bunch of GOP talking points, such as "peace with strength" and "secure borders." Then he wished that "all the presidential candidates can just get along," to which a Santa Claus appeared next to him and said, "I was with you right up until that last one."
Even more painful was "Same Gift," in which Giuliani said he was getting everyone the "same gift" this year, which was another list of GOP slogans, as well as "a fruitcake or something." To an incredulous voice off-screen, Giuliani defensively insisted, "It will be a really nice fruitcake with a big red bow on it, or something like that!"
Four years later, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sat with his wife and stiffly delivered a holiday greeting to Iowa viewers. The spot was widely seen as an attempt to overcome his difficulty connecting with religious voters, thanks to his checkered marital history.
Then in December 2015, Ted Cruz reached new heights (or lows) in cringe, with "Cruz Christmas Classics."
The Senator from Texas was seen reading, to this family, books such as "'Twas the Night Before the Shutdown," "How Obamacare Stole Christmas," and "Rudolph the Underemployed Reindeer." One of his daughters got to read, "The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails." (Cruz actually won Iowa shortly after this ad aired.)
Giuliani talked of "peace with strength" as a Christmas wish, and Gingrich associated Christmas lights with "the fire of freedom that burns bright in the America we love." Trump's militaristic ad takes the melding of the religious holiday with conservative national security messaging one large step further, emphasizing the lengths Trump went through as president to see the troops on the sacred day.
While Trump's most authoritarian and bigoted rhetoric grabs the most attention, his attempts to craft a quasi-religious cult of personality merit scrutiny as well.
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Bill Scher, Washington Monthly Politics Editor