That Wild 'Jobs Not Mobs' Video Trump Tweeted Was Taken From an Anonymous GOP Fan
On Wednesday, President Trump tweeted out a video supporting the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections next week. After a montage of news clips featuring people describing the economic boom that has supposedly resulted from Trump’s presidency, the second half of the video, entitled “The Left’s America,” shows the dark and scary future that apparently awaits the country if the Democrats win next week, featuring Antifa protests, violence against Trump supporters, and Maxine Waters encouraging direct action. The video ends with the slogan “Jobs Not Mobs.”
If the video looked slicker than the president’s usual awkward Twitter fare, that’s for a reason: it wasn’t made by his team, or anyone the GOP usually works with. According to Newsweek, it was the work of an anonymous video editor, who put it together in the hopes that someone like Trump might pick it up and use it, with or without credit.
From Newsweek:
The man uploaded the video… onto YouTube on October 17. He tweeted it at Trump, some of the president’s family members, the GOP and several public figures on October 20, and Trump tweeted with the message “#JOBSNOTMOBS! VOTE REPUBLICAN NOW!!” on Wednesday.
The video’s creator told Newsweek that he was inspired by the slogan, and wanted to help the GOP maximize its effectiveness.
“I saw the GOP attempt it and, quite frankly, flounder,” he told Newsweek in a direct message. “They probably wasted thousands upon thousands of dollars on those videos and they came across as flimsy and were ultimately crippled by the old way of advertising by featuring cheesy voice overs and ‘scary’ black and white; those types of ads haven’t convinced anyone to vote any differently since the 60’s. I wanted to see if I could do better with no money or resources.”
The man told Newsweek that Trump had become “the face of the working class.”
“The left seems focused on gender and not job security,” he said. “I haven’t heard them talk about the basic needs of Americans in many years. They live in a bubble and think jobs and security are a given, a default; something that doesn’t need to be maintained, let alone strengthened.”
The man said he used to be a Democrat, and voted for the Democratic candidate for president up until 2016, when he voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
“I’m a middle aged man,” he told Newsweek, when asked about his identity. “I’m white. I’m someone that works in Hollywood. I am a notable person but because of the state of the climate, I chose to make this video anonymously.”
The Twitter account that posted the video, @JFord1984, has only a few tweets, and was apparently created to distribute the video. The user’s photo is a picture of Ronald Reagan shaking hands with a young Donald Trump in the ‘80s.
The account follows actor James Woods, Tucker Carlson, conservative and Dilbert creator Scott Adams, Donald Trump, Jr., and both of Donald Trump’s accounts. His tweets include a retweet of Woods reposting his video. Newsweek notes that Woods is 71, but switched his party membership from Democrat to Republican in 1999.
We’ve reached out to the account’s owner for comment and will update this post if we get a response.
Update, 4:15 p.m. ET: We got a response. Here are our emailed questions and his answers:
Who are you?
I’m an American man who’s not employed by the government or any political movements.
Who did you vote for in the 2016 primary?
I abstained from voting in any of the 2016 primaries but, as stated in my interview with Newsweek, I voted for Gary Johnson in the 2016 general election.
What do you think of Bernie Sanders? I know you’re interested in economics and the working class, and he talks about that all the time.
Bernie Sanders seems like a genuine person who would’ve been completely ineffective at economically reorienting the US the same way Trump has. Specifically, I don’t think Bernie would’ve been able to renegotiate NAFTA or curb any of China’s many unfair trade practices. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has been effective.
It’s worth noting that Bernie Sanders agrees with President Trump on trade and illegal immigration.