President Trump is bringing back “Make America Great Again” as a campaign rallying cry as the coronavirus upends plans to run for reelection on the strength of a roaring economy.
The Trump campaign is investing “mid-seven figures” to run a new television advertisement on broadcast and cable television networks across the country. The ad touts video clips and Trump’s words to promote his management of the pandemic and qualifications for directing the recovery of the economy. The one-minute spot never mentions “Keep America Great,” the reelection slogan Trump unveiled during his campaign kickoff rally last June in Orlando.
“I’m fighting for you, and I love doing it,” Trump says during the ad, a compilation of audio and video clips spliced together from various speeches and television clips. “With the grace of God, we will win this war, and we will win this war quickly; and we will make America great again.”
The advertisement first aired on Sunday, six months before Election Day, amid mounting deaths and job losses caused by the coronavirus. In the spot, the president promises an “American comeback.” For the Trump campaign, the ad appeared to mark an official return to the slogan the president used during his first campaign: “Make America Great Again” or “#MAGA.”
At the outset of Trump’s reelection bid, the president shifted to “Keep America Great.” With the booming economy, Trump made the case for a second term on the grounds that he had revived a country in distress and that people should vote for him to guard against a backslide into mediocrity. Even the president’s rallies were rebranded “#KAG rallies.”
But after more than 30 million people lost their jobs in just the last six weeks and the economy contracted by nearly 5%, Trump’s new campaign strategy has become to sell himself as the person who made the economy great once and can, therefore, do it again.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is writing the greatest comeback story in history,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said Monday in a statement.
