Is Clinton using Trump’s strategy in ad?
Insinuations, accusations and speculations have been a staple of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Now Hillary Clinton is using the Republican nominee’s own methods against him.
In a new online advertisement, her campaign makes a few factual statements about Trump’s Russian sympathies, stretches the truth in a couple of ways and then invites readers to draw their own conclusions.
It is exactly the technique that Trump has used repeatedly throughout the campaign to feed conspiracy theories, said Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories. The advertisement, which is titled “What Is Donald Trump’s Connection to Vladimir Putin?” and appeared online Friday, insinuates that Trump has some kind of business or political alliance with Russia’s president, Uscinski said.
“We don’t know what’s going on here, and Donald won’t tell us,” the spot concludes. “We’ll let you guess.”
Trump has surrounded himself with people who are sympathetic to Putin. Paul Manafort, the chairman of Trump’s campaign, also advised former Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was aligned with Putin. Carter Page, one of Trump’s advisers on foreign affairs, has openly praised Putin and criticized Western sanctions on Russian officials.
At this point, however, there is no evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign has a direct connection with the Kremlin, as Clinton’s spot insinuated.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There’s also no evidence that Trump himself has business relationships with people in Russia that would cause a conflict of interest if he were elected. Trump has been seeking business in Russia for a long time, without any visible successes.
Trump’s positions on foreign policy and his evident fondness for Putin are consistent with his other positions. He believes in putting U.S. interests first, even ahead of those of close foreign allies. He has expressed admiration for authoritarian leaders around the world, not only in Moscow. A conspiracy theory is not necessary to explain Trump’s views on Russia.
All the same, the Clinton campaign has invited voters to come up with one, Uscinski said. He compared the rhetoric in the advertisement to Trump’s strategy of stating a few facts and asking leading questions without clearly stating any accusations that could be refuted.
“There’s something going on,” the New York businessman is fond of saying.
Uscinski said the advertisement was politically savvy. Trump’s supporters are more likely than other Republicans to endorse conspiracy theories, polling has found, so an advertisement that appeals to that world view might prove successful.