'Doom-and-gloom' ads attacking Trump are backfiring, Democratic strategist argues

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Political ads that attack President Trump, like those produced by the Lincoln Project, tend to go viral, but Jess McIntosh, a veteran Democratic communications strategist, told Vanity Fair that's not the way to go if Democrats (or, in the case of the Lincoln Project, anti-Trump Republicans) want to prevent the president's re-election.

McIntosh specifically criticized "scary, doom-and-gloom, negative spots" that use Trump's voice or even just his face. She said they "not only aren't working with people that we want, they're causing backlash among the people that we need."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.