To Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Donald Trump is no more than the political version of Biff Tannen from “Back to the Future,” Mick from “Teen Wolf “and Regina George from “Mean Girls.”
The Clinton campaign’s latest ad compares Trump to a series of movie bullies by pairing disparaging lines from the actors with comments Trump has made throughout his career.
The formula goes like this: Regina George from Mean Girls saying “you are so stupid” is paired with Trump saying “how stupid are the people of the country” at a November rally, while Biff from Back to the Future saying “I don’t want to see you in here again” is paired with Trump kicking people out of his rallies.
Other characters featured in the spot include Scut Farkus from “A Christmas Story,” Nurse Ratched from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and Johnny Lawrence from Karate Kid.
The ad will run in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as part of the Clinton campaign’s already existing swing state ad buy.
The ad opens with a slate the features the definition of bulling and closes with Clinton answering a December 2015 question about bullying from Iowa 10-year old Hannah Tandy.
“What are you going to do about people who want to be mean and all that bullying,” Tandy asked at a Keota, Iowa town hall meeting, telling the Democratic nominee that she has asthma and she often hears people “talking behind my back.”
Clinton is then seen telling Tandy she is really brave and arguing that the country needs more “love and kindness.”
“That is why we shouldn’t let anybody bully his way into the presidency,” Clinton adds.
Trump’s campaign responded shortly after the ads release Monday morning, telling the Democratic presidential nominee to “look in the mirror.”
“Hillary Clinton should look in the mirror on this one,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said. “Clinton bullied Monica Lewinsky so badly she started a foundation to help other victims of bullying, not to mention Clinton’s bullying of Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Paula Jones.”
The ad is the latest in a string of ads that hit Clinton while arguing for more positivity in the United States, hoping to counter the Trump campaign’s strategy of increased negativity with the hopes of depressing turnout. Clinton’s top aides have worried that Trump’s strategy — which one Trump aide described as “war” — will impact the excitement people have in this election and keep the Republican nominee competitive.