The Lincoln Project is trolling Trump, but can it sway voters?
- A few anti-Trump Republicans have successfully invaded the president’s mental space with popular ads
- Now they’re trying to figure out what to do with the attention
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Tina Nguyen and Elena Schneider on politico.com on June 27, 2020.
Galen had co-founded the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump PAC run by Republicans, with the goal of convincing Americans to vote against him in November. In May, the group thought Trump’s response to the pandemic had created the perfect opportunity to both make their case.
“He's always gonna be watching Fox News at night in the residence,” said Galen, a Republican Party consultant who had worked for George W. Bush, John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
What they hadn’t expected, though, was that Trump would single out nearly every person involved in the Lincoln Project by name – Kellyane Conway’s “deranged loser of a husband, Moonface” Conway, “Crazed” Rick Wilson, “LOSERS” who had consulted for “loser” candidates.
To Galen, it was a sign that the Lincoln Project – the first phase, at least – was working.