The Lincoln Project, a Republican PAC aimed at preventing the reelection of President Donald Trump, blasted the president in a new video ad for failing to stop Russia from paying bounties to Taliban-militants who kill U.S. soldiers.
“This heinous failure by the commander-in-chief to protect American soldiers in the field is unthinkable,” Reed Galen, co-founder of the group, said in a statement. “There aren’t words to describe Donald Trump’s dereliction of duty as Commander in Chief.”
The video, titled “Bounty,” shows flag-draped caskets while a narrator says, “Now we know Vladimir Putin pays a bounty for the murder of American soldiers. Donald Trump knows too and does nothing.”
“Putin pays the Taliban cash to slaughter our men and women in uniform, and Trump is silent, weak, controlled,” the narrator continues as Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin shake hands. “Instead of condemnation, he insists Russia be treated as our equal. Instead of retaliation, he invites Putin to America.”
“When Trump tells you he stands by the troops, he’s right. Just not our troops,” the narrator finishes.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany denied reports that Trump had been briefed on the matter, while Trump tweeted that it was “fake news” that he had been briefed.
However, some outlets and politicians have touted the possibility of Trump failing to read his President’s Daily Brief, which contained the intelligence.
“I believe it may have been” in the PDB, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told NBC on Monday
“I think the way the process works is that he gets briefed about three times a week on sort of actionable, credible items,” he said. “And the decision was made that this was not at that point in time a credible, actionable piece of intelligence. And if at any point it did, it would be raised to his attention.”
