Just as Donald Trump co-opted Taylor Swift’s likeness for his campaign (despite his supposed aversion to AI), so too has the Democratic National Convention borrowed from a famous catalog, this time in the form of a beloved police procedural TV series.
A clip from day one of the event, which is currently taking place in Chicago, shows Democrats trying a new line of attack on Trump, with a parody clip fashioned like the famous title sequence of Law & Order. It aligns with the Democratic Party’s broader narrative of contrasting its nominee, former prosecutor Kamala Harris, with Trump’s history of felony convictions and ongoing criminal cases.
“This is the story of Donald Trump,” the baritone narrator — who sounds eerily similar to the Law & Order voiceover — says in the parody video. Holding absolutely no punches, the video features newspaper clippings of Trump’s long list of criminal activities, making mention of everything from his financial fraud and allegations of sexual abuse, to his infamous hush money trial and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
All of it is soundtracked by a score that recalls that of the Law & Order intro, with the narrator delivering burns so searing that I’m almost compelled to see if Trump’s skin is smoldering. Among other quips, the voiceover says the former president believes he “is above the law,” that he “cheats in business” and “sexually abuses women” and that he “rips off workers.”
Oh, it also mentions Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels and outright declares that he “cheated on his wife” (seriously, has anyone checked on Trump?). Towards the end of the video, Harris is portrayed as the one who’ll bring Trump to justice à la Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson, with the narrator declaring “need a President who has spent her life prosecuting perpetrators” like Trump.
The ad concluded to rapturous applause and cheers from the audience, hopefully loud enough to be heard all the way in Mar-A-Lago. It’s the kind of direct attack that Trump himself has no qualms doling out, but rest assured that he’s no-doubt preparing his less clever, more juvenile response on Truth Social.
Social media users flocked to X to share their excitement around the parody, singing praise to the DNC doing an “absolutely amazing and a phenomenal job” with the attack ad. Others believed it was convincing enough to actually be a “series airing on Netflix”, and elsewhere described it as “the appropriate level of savage.”
It’s the latest instance of the DNC refusing to let up on Trump, with more attendees like Hillary Clinton and Mark Hamill using the event to take square aim at the former president. So feverish is the response that I can almost imagine Ted Sarandos drafting up a Law & Order-style pilot, perhaps with Maya Rudolph in the role of Harris (for obvious reasons).
Published: Aug 21, 2024 04:10 am