Lincoln Project places anti-Trump ads in military newspapers

The anti-Trump GOP group Lincoln Project launched a new ad campaign Tuesday in Stars & Stripes and the Military Times network.

The group known for its targeted ads against President Trump said its latest campaign in military newspapers was created after The Atlantic reported Trump referred “to military service members and veterans as ‘losers’ and ‘suckers,'” The Lincoln Project said in a statement.

A rotation of five military and national security-themed ads aired last week and will run through mid-October.

“It’s a complete disgrace that a Commander-in-Chief who dodged serving in Vietnam and denigrated POW’s publicly has the audacity to disrespect the millions of brave men and women who volunteered for military service,” said Fred Wellman, The Lincoln Project’s senior adviser for veterans affairs.

The Lincoln Project said it is delivering its message through its latest campaign to the “military community so that every service member, veteran, and their families know the truth about Donald Trump’s betrayal of America’s troops.”

Trump lambasted reports of his alleged disrespect to military members reported by The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, calling the information a lie.

“I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more,” Trump told reporters at the time.

The Lincoln Project’s ads also targeted allegations that Trump selectively chose to ignore intelligence reports about Russian bounties placed on U.S. service members in the Middle East.

The information about Russian bounties was reportedly included in at least one of the president’s written briefings in February, though the president has dismissed the reports.

Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has agreed with the president on calling the reporting of Russian bounties a “hoax.”

“The president had been briefed about this unverified and uncorroborated intelligence and chose not to take action on it,” O’Brien said. “That was a hoax, and there is no question about it.”

During an interview with “Axios on HBO” in July, Trump admitted that he never discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin reports about paying Taliban-linked militants to attack U.S. fighters in Afghanistan.