Republican front runner Donald Trump has always said he would train his guns on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton once he has dealt with all opponents within the party. He has not yet won the Republican nomination, but the first Trump ad that targets Ms. Clinton is now out, and features the former first lady barking like a dog, which the ad says is her only answer to all the threats that the U.S faces.
The ad has been criticised for its gender coded insinuations, but some conservative commentators have found it attractive. The ad also features Russian President Vladimir Putin as an enemy, which the Kremlin found “negative” and as “demonising Russia”.
The clip of Ms. Clinton mimicking a dog is taken from a speech in February, where she said in jest that it would be a good idea to have a dog that barks each time a Republican candidate told a lie. “Well, we’ve trained this dog and the dog, if it’s not true, he’s going to bark,” she had said.
The ad shows Mr. Putin slamming an opponent in Judo and an Islamic State militant with his face covered, pointing a gun at the camera as the threats to America. “The Democrats have the perfect answer...” the ad says before moving to the clip of Ms Clinton barking like a dog.
Mr. Trump has been an admirer of Mr. Putin and his style, particularly his West Asia policy. The Republican candidate has said he would get along well with the Russian leader and it would be good for America. Mr. Putin has described Mr. Trump as a “really brilliant and talented person”. Mr. Trump has also said his Republican opponents were incapable of dealing with “tough” people like Mr. Putin and only he could do that.
“It’s an open secret for us that demonising Russia and whatever is linked to Russia is unfortunately a mandatory hallmark of America’s election campaign. We always sincerely regret this and wish the [U.S.] electoral process was conducted without such references to our country,” a Kremlin spokesperson was quoted as telling by Reuters.
The depiction of Mr Putin in martial arts action and the suggestion that Ms Clinton is incapable of dealing with him was found to be sexist by many.
When Mr. Trump was criticised by Ms. Clinton for his misogynistic comments earlier, he had responded by raking up her husband Bill Clinton’s history of sexual transgressions and her own responses to them. He has since then been threatening more.
