As part of a broader campaign to portray Donald Trump as divisive and mean-spirited, the major super PAC backing Hillary Clinton on Thursday launched a new website targeting younger voters called “Stop Trump/Stop Hate.”
The super PAC, Priorities USA Action, is aiming to reach out to millennials and create a shareable, anti-Trump message with videos, tweets and messages that brand Trump as bigoted and “full of hate.”
Along with the anti-Trump website, Priorities on Thursday released a digital advertisement that features a 17-year-old Dante Latchman of Las Vegas, who has been disabled by a rare form of cancer, along with images of Trump mocking a disabled journalist. “I don’t want a president who makes fun of me,” Latchman says. “I want a president who inspires me, and that’s not Donald Trump.”
The messages at the core of the effort—stop hate, spread kindness, stand up against bigotry—are part of a bigger campaign among Democrats to attract millennials who are disillusioned by politics but eager to dismiss Trump. The Clinton campaign has repeatedly broadcast similar messages; one-of Hillary Clinton’s often-repeated mantras is that America needs “more love and kindness.”
Democratic strategists believe young voters are more persuaded by social identity and combatting perceived racism than they are motivated by candidates’ specific policies. Much of the digital efforts by both the Clinton campaign and Priorities, which are not allowed to coordinate, have centered on creating viral messages and shareable content for social media.
The new website is not branded as pro-Clinton and there is little to indicate its ties with Priorities, aside from a “paid for” line at the bottom of the page. It is part of a number of efforts by Clinton and her allies to create content that appears to be independently created and not specifically political. Priorities has released several similarly-themed advertisements, including a television ad that shows the same clip of Trump mocking a disabled journalist and another set targeting Trump for his rhetoric about women.
Joining in on the “Stop Trump/Stop Hate” campaign are pro-Clinton groups including Planned Parenthood Votes and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, LCV Victory Fund, Latino Victory Fund, AFT, LPAC, EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE!, PowerPAC.org, & The Human Rights Campaign.
The new Priorities advertisement is playing on Facebook, Instagram and Pandora in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and North Carolina, in a $500,000 buy, part of a total of $6 million Priorities has spent so far on digital.
“Throughout his career and campaign Donald Trump has repeatedly ridiculed and marginalized people who are different than him and it’s up to us to save America from his message of hatred and ridicule,” said Guy Cecil, Priorities USA’s chief strategist.
Priorities is planning to spend some $150 million on television, radio and online advertising and outreach, a commitment that could grow before the general election in November.
This article was originally published on Time.com.
