Former GOP strategist rips Koch anti-Trump ads for 'bringing pillows to a machete fight'

14 June 2023

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 marked the first time in the United States' almost-247-year history that a former president was arraigned on federal criminal charges. In a courthouse in Miami, Donald Trump entered a "not guilty" plea for 37 criminal counts stemming from special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of government documents he was storing at Mar-a-Lago.

This was not Trump's first arraignment on felony charges. In early April, Trump pled "not guilty" to 34 New York State counts being prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.; that case involves the Trump Organization and alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

June 13, however, marked the first time Trump was arraigned on federal criminal charges.

Moreover, Trump is still facing two investigations involving his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results: a federal U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) probe led by Smith, and a Georgia probe led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Many legal experts believe Trump is likely to be indicted in both of those cases.

Despite all his legal problems, Trump remains the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Polls released in June have found Trump leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 38 percent (CBS News/YouGov), 36 percent (I&I/TIPP), 25 percent (USA Today/Suffolk) or 21 percent (Reuters/Ipsos).

The right-wing Koch Network has been running anti-Trump ads in the hope of persuading Republican primary voters to nominate someone else in 2024. The ads emphasize that if Trump is the nominee, President Joe Biden is likely to win a second term.

But in an article published by The Bulwark on June 14, Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist Tim Miller argues that the Koch ads miss the mark badly.

According to Miller, "There are several blindingly obvious problems with these wartime spots that render them completely ineffective and possibly even counterproductive."

The anti-Trump conservative stresses that the ads fail in terms of: (1) "style," (2) "substance," and (3) "audience."

"One thing we learned in all our data research for RVAT was that the worst thing you could do in trying to reach a GOP voter was give them a message that felt like it was a lecture from D.C. elites," Miller explains. "These ads exude that vibe."

The ads fail in terms of "substance" and "audience," according to Miller, because the "Trump can't win" argument didn't work with Republican voters in 2016 and won't work now. Miller slams the ads as "bringing pillows to a machete fight."

The former GOP strategist writes, "The people the Kochs are trying to reach…. are not sufficient to win a primary against Donald Trump…. There is not a plurality of GOP primary voters who are susceptible to arguments from authority about electability. The people who are open to that message make up what should be DeSantis' — or another challenger's — base. It doesn't take a mathlete to see that if only 30 percent of the electorate is open to your message that Trump is a loser, there is a limit on your PAC's aspirations."

Read Tim Miller's full article for The Bulwark at this link. Watch the Koch ads below or at this link or this link.

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