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Last night I saw a TV ad blasting Democrats for trying to impeach Donald Trump. It made three points:

  • Hunter Biden made a bunch of money in Ukraine.
  • Joe Biden got Ukraine’s prosecutor fired.
  • The prosecutor claims he was fired because he was putting so much pressure on Hunter Biden.

This is simple, straightforward, and true. Needless to say, the ad leaves out quite a bit. Like the fact that the prosecutor in question was brazenly corrupt. And that everyone from the IMF to the EU wanted him gone before they’d commit any more aid money to Ukraine. And his claims about why he was fired are laughable.

Nonetheless, those three bullet points are narrowly true. This is why it’s going to be hard to persuade Trump supporters to turn on Trump. We can’t fight this ad by saying it’s a lie. We can only fight it by adding more detail, and that’s a tough thing to do. Three bullet points are about all that even an honest but low-information voter has time for.

But we can flood the zone. It’s probably our only hope.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

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