Clinton: Why Aren't I 50 Points Ahead? New Trump Ad: Uh, Here's Why

On Sept. 21, during an address to a Laborers' International Union of North America meeting in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton said, "Why aren't I 50 points ahead, you might ask." Somebody in the Trump campaign probably said "Yes! Thank you, Hillary!" when viewing the footage -- especially since Clinton was speaking to the group via a video-conference link, which caused her to bark the words out in an unusually awkward fashion. Now the Trump campaign has released a 30-second ad that uses Clinton's unfortunate soundbite against her, and answers the question with a folksy voiceover: "Maybe it's because the director of the FBI says you lied about your emails." (Cue a clip of FBI Director James Comey testifying before Congress.) "Or maybe because your policies have allowed ISIS and terrorism to spread." (Cue scary clips of ISIS.) "Or maybe it's because you called Americans deplorable." (Cue a clip of Clinton saying half of Trump's supporters belong in the "basket of deplorables.") In the end, Clinton's "Why" clip is replayed, followed by a weary response from the announcer: "Do you really need to ask?" It's worth noting that the Trump campaign previously released a 40-second version of this piece as a web ad, which was saved and uploaded to YouTube by the All Political Ads channel. Compare the new version (above) to the earlier version (below) to see some striking changes -- particularly the use of a filter on the opening clip of Clinton that drains the color out of her face and gives her surroundings a sinister, dungeon-like gloom. Simon Dumenco, aka Media Guy, is an Ad Age editor-at-large. You can follow him on Twitter @simondumenco.

Clinton: Why Aren't I 50 Points Ahead? New Trump Ad: Uh, Here's Why

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