Republican releases ad promising to ‘stand up’ to Trump Mike Coffman, a House Republican from Colorado, is the first House Republican to use explicitly anti-Trump messaging in paid advertising.

As many Republicans delicately distance themselves from Donald Trump’s erratic candidacy, one prominent Republican is going further — launching a face-to-camera television commercial in which he promises to “stand up” to the GOP nominee.

The commercial, from GOP Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado, represents the first time a House Republican has used explicitly anti-Trump messaging in paid advertising. It comes as many in the Republican Party — concerned about Trump’s impact on down-ballot races — are grappling with whether to take further measures to repudiate their presidential nominee after a string of controversies including an attack on a Gold Star family and his refusal to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan in his primary.


The 30-second ad opens with a shot of Coffman, a 61-year-old Army and Marine veteran who fought in Iraq, looking directly at the camera.

“People ask me, ‘What do you think about Trump?’” he says. “Honestly, I don’t care for him much.”

A few moments later, he says: “I’m a Marine – for me, country comes first. My duty is always to you. So if Donald Trump is the president, I’ll stand up to him. Plain and simple.”

The commercial, which is set to begin airing on Friday, is an unusual one: Rarely do incumbent members of Congress finance commercials in which they launch attacks on presidential nominees of their own party. But for Coffman, a fourth-term lawmaker who represents a suburban Denver district that is one of the most politically competitive in the country, the move may be one of necessity. As with many other imperiled Republicans, Democrats have been eager to tie Coffman to Trump’s candidacy.

The ad is uncommon for another reason. With an eye toward assuaging Latinos — many of whom have been alienated by Trump’s tough-on-immigration posture — Coffman will also release a version of the commercial which features him speaking Spanish. Latinos comprise around 20 percent of the district’s population.

As Republicans struggle to maneuver around Trump, Coffman’s ad could signal to other party figures in hard-fought races that they’re free to criticize Trump — and that doing so may help their election bids.

While many down-ballot Republicans have struggled to figure out how — or whether — to distance themselves from Trump, Coffman has had no such hesitancy. Over the weekend, he criticized Trump for his attacks on the parents of a fallen U.S. soldier, saying he was “deeply offended.”

Strategists from both parties are increasingly convinced the presidential contest will shape how congressional races play out. This week, Liesl Hickey, a former National Republican Congressional Committee executive director who also advises Coffman, penned a three-page memo to vulnerable GOP titled “How to Survive in 2016.” The memo argues that they can win over swing voters by waging carefully crafted attacks on Trump and Hillary Clinton. Hickey co-produced the Coffman commercial along with Chad Scarborough.

Josh Penry, a former Republican leader in the Colorado Legislature who is advising Coffman, said crafting a Trump-focused commercial was an obvious move, particularly at a time when voters from both parties are expressing discomfort with him. Coffman, Penry said, may take steps to further divorce himself from Trump, perhaps by voting for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. While Coffman has made no decision about whom to vote for, Penry said, he has been in touch with Johnson’s campaign. (In February, the Colorado Statesman quoted a Coffman spokeswoman as saying that the congressman would “obviously” support the Republican nominee.)

“Mike has been persistently critical of Trump,” said Penry, who added that taking on Trump “was the right thing to do – it’s on people’s mind.”

In the ad, Coffman does not solely focus on Trump: He also makes apparent that he would also serve as a check on Clinton. The congressman has been working to tie his Democratic opponent, state Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll, to the Democratic nominee.

“I certainly don’t trust Hillary,” Coffman says at one point. “If Hillary wins, I’ll hold her accountable – every step of the way.”

It’s an approach could serve as a roadmap for other Republicans, who may look to balance their attacks on Trump with harsh criticism of Clinton.

Coffman isn’t the first GOP lawmaker to take on Trump in paid advertising. In June, Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk aired a commercial which trumpeted that he “bucked his party to say Donald Trump is not fit to be commander-in-chief.”

