Donald Trump celebrates Friday the 13th by attacking Ben Carson in a brilliantly brutal horror-themed ad

Screenshot from a Trump 2016 campaign ad posted to Donald Trump&#039;s Instagram.

(Image credit: realdonaldtrump/Instagram)

published 13 November 2015

Donald Trump's Instagram attack ads have been hailed as "the future of American politics," bypassing the use of traditional campaign television spots for short, sharable, and usually pretty amusing clips. Trump's latest, which takes a shot at his new favorite chew toy, Ben Carson, is a whole new level of inspired:

Happy Friday the 13thA video posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Nov 13, 2015 at 8:07am PST

Trump has seized on the opportunity to "celebrate" non-holidays before (9/11, for one), and his takedown of Carson is no different, wishing his supporters a "Happy Friday the 13th." Set to music that sounds like it could have come straight from Halloween, Trump shows a clip of Carson talking about that time he tried to stab his friend, followed by a classmate of Carson's implying the story might be a lie. Trump's ad then asks in bold letters, "Violent criminal? Or pathological liar? We don't need either as president."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.