Hours before the Republican National Convention kicked off on Monday night, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer and fixer tweeted that he had “a message” for his former boss. It appears he was referring to a series of anti-Trump ads that are set to be released as salvo as the Republican National Convention unwinds this week.
In the first video, produced by the Democratic super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, and released Monday night, Cohen depicted Trump as a liar and a fraud, warning that as the party’s convention kicked off Trump would “stand up and blatantly lie to you.”
The people who know Donald Trump best are sounding the alarm: our country cannot survive four more years of a Trump presidency.
In our latest ad, a former member of his inner circle & "fixer" — @MichaelCohen212 — has a dire warning for us all. #RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/suPUODOdwz
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) August 24, 2020
In the clip, Cohen uses sharp personal testimony as fuel — saying of the President, “I’m here to tell you he can’t be trusted — and you shouldn’t believe a word he utters.”
Cohen was previously among Trump’s most loyal and trusted confidants before he was sentenced in December 2018 following conviction for federal crimes related to his work in service of Trump.
In the ad Cohen suggests the President would likely spew “talk about law and order” throughout the convention — a tactic Cohen decries as “laughable.”
“Virtually everyone who worked for his campaign has been convicted of a crime or is under indictment. Myself included,” Cohen said in the video.
Cohen is serving a three-year sentence in home confinement following his conviction for federal crimes, that included making hush payments to women who alleged having affairs with Trump. As Cohen noted in the video, he joins a growing list of former friends and allies to the President who have been charged with crimes. Most recently, former chief strategist to the Trump campaign, Steve Bannon was arrested last week on fraud charges for allegedly dipping into donations for a privately funded initiative to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“When the President gets in front of the cameras this week, remember that he thinks we are all gullible, a bunch of fools,” Cohen said, adding that in his view Trump certainly does not care about working-class Americans and families.
American Bridge 21st Century has said it will continue to push out digital and TV ads alongside the RNC this week.