The minute-long video obtained by Newsweek ahead of its release online on Tuesday shows clips of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing Trump’s impeachment inquiry, of Trump encouraging China to investigate 2020 Democratic front runner Joe Biden, and of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani admitting he asked Ukraine to look into Biden.
“This is a clear and unprecedented abuse of power. No one is above the law,” a voice over says. “Contact your senators today. Urge them to vote country over party.”
The voice over concludes: “When the time comes, we’re counting on them to be patriots and vote to remove Trump from office.” The ad ends with “call your senators now,” along with a phone number for viewers to do so.
Public figures on the task force, created by The Democratic Coalition, advised leaders on the overall messaging, tone and theme, according to the coalition’s co-founder Scott Dworkin. The task force plans to air it on cable networks such as CNN and MSNBC later this week.
“Success for the ad would be the Senate phone lines being flooded and that pressure equaling more support for the inquiry and for impeachment and removal,” Dworkin told Newsweek. “Our main message in our first ad is that the Ukraine scandal alone warrants Trump’s impeachment and removal from office.”
The ad is being paid for with money raised by the task force. Its finances will be disclosed in mid-January in its Federal Election Commission filing.
“This is the first of many ads which will outline Trump’s scandals that warrant his impeachment and removal,” Dworkin said.
The task force, formed two weeks ago, now has more than 1,000 members including more than 100 who are Hollywood stars, elected officials and activists.
Some of the well-known members on board so far include:
Kirk Acevedo, actorTom Arnold, actorKurt Bardella, former Republican House Oversight Committee spokesmanAdy Barkan, progressive activist and lawyerLea Black, author and TV personalityMisha Collins, actorMorgan Fairchild, actressMia Farrow, actressJohn Fugelsang, actorAndrew Gillum, former Tallahassee mayorFred Guttenberg, gun control activistMark Hamill, actorDavid Jolly, former congressmanSteve Kerrigan, former Democratic National Convention CEOJohn Leguizamo, actorRenato Mariotti, former federal prosecutorDebra Messing, actressAlyssa Milano, actressKristin Mink, teacher and activistPeter Morley, patient advocateMartina Navratilova, former tennis playerStefan Lessard, musicianRosie O’Donnell, comedianRon Perlman, actorMichael Rapaport, actorOtep Shamaya, singerNancy Sinatra, singerGrant Stern, authorGeorge Takei, actor
