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'No Red Button' Campaign Conjures Terrifying Image of Trump With Nukes
'Donald Trump is weeks away from having the unchecked ability to light the world on fire,' says campaign director
Oct 13, 2016
Donald Trump with his finger on the nuclear red button.
It's an unsettling image that Hillary Clinton has employed throughout her campaign, and it's the focus of a new video launched Thursday by the No Red Button campaign.
" Donald Trump is weeks away from having the unchecked ability to light the world on fire," Meredith Horowski, the director of the campaign, told Common Dreams. "His flippant statements condoning nuclear violence and his penchant for revenge suggest that as president, he would do just that. He could launch thousands of nuclear weapons at any time--each one vastly more powerful than the bomb that obliterated Hiroshima--and no one could stop him."
Juxtaposing Trump's own trigger-happy statements with graphic images of nuclear victims, the video "delivers a gut-punch to viewers and serves as call to Americans to fight like hell to keep Donald Trump out of the White House," Horowski said.
Watch below:
Claiming Trump's potential access to nukes is "the #1 issue that can convince swing voters to drop him," the No Red Button campaign is fundraising to launch targeted ads in a dozen swing states.
Clinton must have made a similar assessment; last week, her campaign released a new ad that includes a former nuclear missile launch officer saying he's frightened by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.
"Self control may be all that keeps these missiles from firing," former launch officer Bruce Blair says, before the ad cuts in with footage of Trump saying he wants to "bomb the sh*t" out of people.
"The thought of Donald Trump with nuclear weapons scares me to death," Blair continues. "It should scare everyone."
Blair elaborated in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday:
Mr. Trump is seemingly blind to the importance of restraint in nuclear decision making. He shows no humility toward the civilization-ending destructiveness of nuclear weapons, and offhandedly entertains their use. He has suggested that South Korea and Japan should consider developing their own arsenals. Empowering such a person to single-handedly initiate a nuclear strike would put the nation and the world as we know it in real jeopardy.
Or as retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel William Astore wrote this week: "Sure, Trump is crude, lewd, and sexist, but those qualities won't destroy the world as we know it. Ignorance about nuclear weapons, combined with impetuosity and an avowed affection for he-man wild-card generals like George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, is a recipe for utter disaster."
People are tweeting about the danger of a Nuclear Trump under the hashtag #NoRedButton:
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Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Donald Trump with his finger on the nuclear red button.
It's an unsettling image that Hillary Clinton has employed throughout her campaign, and it's the focus of a new video launched Thursday by the No Red Button campaign.
" Donald Trump is weeks away from having the unchecked ability to light the world on fire," Meredith Horowski, the director of the campaign, told Common Dreams. "His flippant statements condoning nuclear violence and his penchant for revenge suggest that as president, he would do just that. He could launch thousands of nuclear weapons at any time--each one vastly more powerful than the bomb that obliterated Hiroshima--and no one could stop him."
Juxtaposing Trump's own trigger-happy statements with graphic images of nuclear victims, the video "delivers a gut-punch to viewers and serves as call to Americans to fight like hell to keep Donald Trump out of the White House," Horowski said.
Watch below:
Claiming Trump's potential access to nukes is "the #1 issue that can convince swing voters to drop him," the No Red Button campaign is fundraising to launch targeted ads in a dozen swing states.
Clinton must have made a similar assessment; last week, her campaign released a new ad that includes a former nuclear missile launch officer saying he's frightened by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.
"Self control may be all that keeps these missiles from firing," former launch officer Bruce Blair says, before the ad cuts in with footage of Trump saying he wants to "bomb the sh*t" out of people.
"The thought of Donald Trump with nuclear weapons scares me to death," Blair continues. "It should scare everyone."
Blair elaborated in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday:
Mr. Trump is seemingly blind to the importance of restraint in nuclear decision making. He shows no humility toward the civilization-ending destructiveness of nuclear weapons, and offhandedly entertains their use. He has suggested that South Korea and Japan should consider developing their own arsenals. Empowering such a person to single-handedly initiate a nuclear strike would put the nation and the world as we know it in real jeopardy.
Or as retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel William Astore wrote this week: "Sure, Trump is crude, lewd, and sexist, but those qualities won't destroy the world as we know it. Ignorance about nuclear weapons, combined with impetuosity and an avowed affection for he-man wild-card generals like George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, is a recipe for utter disaster."
People are tweeting about the danger of a Nuclear Trump under the hashtag #NoRedButton:
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Donald Trump with his finger on the nuclear red button.
It's an unsettling image that Hillary Clinton has employed throughout her campaign, and it's the focus of a new video launched Thursday by the No Red Button campaign.
" Donald Trump is weeks away from having the unchecked ability to light the world on fire," Meredith Horowski, the director of the campaign, told Common Dreams. "His flippant statements condoning nuclear violence and his penchant for revenge suggest that as president, he would do just that. He could launch thousands of nuclear weapons at any time--each one vastly more powerful than the bomb that obliterated Hiroshima--and no one could stop him."
Juxtaposing Trump's own trigger-happy statements with graphic images of nuclear victims, the video "delivers a gut-punch to viewers and serves as call to Americans to fight like hell to keep Donald Trump out of the White House," Horowski said.
Watch below:
Claiming Trump's potential access to nukes is "the #1 issue that can convince swing voters to drop him," the No Red Button campaign is fundraising to launch targeted ads in a dozen swing states.
Clinton must have made a similar assessment; last week, her campaign released a new ad that includes a former nuclear missile launch officer saying he's frightened by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.
"Self control may be all that keeps these missiles from firing," former launch officer Bruce Blair says, before the ad cuts in with footage of Trump saying he wants to "bomb the sh*t" out of people.
"The thought of Donald Trump with nuclear weapons scares me to death," Blair continues. "It should scare everyone."
Blair elaborated in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday:
Mr. Trump is seemingly blind to the importance of restraint in nuclear decision making. He shows no humility toward the civilization-ending destructiveness of nuclear weapons, and offhandedly entertains their use. He has suggested that South Korea and Japan should consider developing their own arsenals. Empowering such a person to single-handedly initiate a nuclear strike would put the nation and the world as we know it in real jeopardy.
Or as retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel William Astore wrote this week: "Sure, Trump is crude, lewd, and sexist, but those qualities won't destroy the world as we know it. Ignorance about nuclear weapons, combined with impetuosity and an avowed affection for he-man wild-card generals like George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, is a recipe for utter disaster."
People are tweeting about the danger of a Nuclear Trump under the hashtag #NoRedButton:
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