Ted Cruz, taking a page from Donald Trump’s book on political correctness, put out a TV ad in the closing hours of the New Hampshire primary that reduces Trump to a hapless action figure as small children mock him.
The 45-second ad, called “Playing Trump,” shows three little boys in a playroom with a Trump “doll” when one asks who he is.
“He pretends to be a Republican,” responds one of them, as they all shriek. There are some random thrown-out lines about banking, including “too big to fail,” which is a little strange coming out of an elementary school child.
When one holds up a Hillary Clinton doll, the Trump figure says, “Hey, Hillary, I’ll give you money to be my friend.”
In what may be the most unexpected use of that tongue twister “eminent domain,” the Trump figure tells another female doll in front of a large doll house that he’s going to take it so he could “park my limos there.”
Then the kids proceed to tear down the doll house, shouting “eminent domain.” Trump tried to get a widow’s house in Atlantic City, N.J., seized under a casino authority’s power to take private property, for a parking lot for a casino. The effort failed but Jeb Bush brought it up during the last GOP debate in New Hampshire as the wrong use of taking property for a private project.
The ad ends with parents watching from the door: “We wouldn’t tolerate these values in our children. Why would we want them in our president?”
Maria Recio: 202-383-6103, @maria_e_recio