Minimalist Biden commercial that asks voters to ‘silence’ Donald Trump hailed as ‘best ad of the century’

Video targets US president’s views on climate change

A new animated ad by the Biden campaign urges viewers to vote for Joe Biden to “silence” Donald Trump.

The 30-second animated ad that is airing during the Cartoon Network’s nighttime programming block, Adult Swim, mocks President Donald Trump for calling climate change “a hoax”.

The ad starts with a drawing of a mouth moving on a blank page, as a narration of President Trump plays, with him saying: “All of this with the global warming and that, a lot of it is a hoax.”

President Trump’s narration adds: “I’m an environmentalist, a lot of people don’t understand them…” as a pen fills in the mouth to create a black circle and Mr Trump’s narration goes silent.

The camera then pans out to show the black circle as a vote for Mr Biden on an early voting slip, which is then dropped off in an official ballot drop box.

The ad then reads: “Silence him. Vote by drop box.”

Election officials and advocacy groups have been urging US citizens to vote early this year at an official ballot drop box, due to coronavirus measures.

The Washington Post reported that the ad is part of a push by the Biden Campaign to reach out to young voters by focusing on climate change.

The ad is airing on Adult Swim, which caters to 18 to 34-year-olds, and Comedy Central, which often attracts younger adults for its programming, according to the Post.

Social media users have praised the ad, with Twitter user @YuckyMermaid writing: “I think this is the best ad of the season.”

User @ChrisSamperi said: “This is the best ad of the CENTURY,” while @maq_attaq wrote: “THIS AD is EVERYTHING.”

Twitter user @SilkScreenFiend added: “These are the best political ads I've seen in a long time. Brilliant.”

Climate change has featured heavily in recent Biden campaign ads, and the vice president is currently running a commercial on MSNBC about a young firefighter, where she says: “The Earth is changing.

“Our forests are changing. We have the science, we have the technology, but if we don’t have the leadership that believes in it, then there’s no funding. There’s no support.”

When Mr Biden shared the ad to Twitter, he captioned it: “On Tuesday, we need to vote out Donald Trump and treat the climate crisis like the existential threat it is.”

Despite focusing on climate change in recent weeks, the Democratic candidate has faced criticism for saying that he will not ban fracking if he is made president on 3 November.

However, Mr Biden has also been praised for a climate plan that includes a commitment to eliminate climate-warming emissions from the power sector by 2035.