Trump’s “Haul Out The Guillotine!” Fundraising Email — Invoking Kathy Griffin — Draws Biden Counter Pitch

Ted Johnson

12 June 2024 at 6:00 pm·2-min read

We are in the season where campaigns flood the zone with fundraising pitches, with many sounding just a bit desperate.

A Trump campaign email today, though, came with the headline, “Haul Out The Guillotine!”

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“Remember when that Sicko Kathy Griffin made the rounds parading my BEHEADED head when I was President?! The radical left CHEERED!”

“The SAD and HORRIFIC TRUTH is that this is STILL the Sick Dream of every Trump-Deranged lunatic out there! And it’s not just me they want gone, THEY’RE REALLY COMING AFTER YOU!”

Trump was referring to an incident in 2017 when, during a photo shoot, Griffin held up a mask that resembled the then-president’s severed head. She posted a clip on social media, but was met with an immediate backlash, not just on the right but also on the left. She apologized, but CNN dropped her from its New Year’s Eve coverage, tour dates were canceled and Democratic lawmakers criticized her.

Joe Biden’s campaign seized on the Trump campaign email as another example of the candidate’s desire for revenge. Trump has suggested that, in light of his conviction on 34 felony counts in New York last month, he has a right to go after Democrats.

Biden’s campaign responded with its own fundraising pitch, calling the reference to the guillotine “the most inflammatory email we’ve ever seen.”

“Trump is dangerous. He is willing to say anything and do anything to rile up the MAGA right. It’s all part of his unhinged pursuit of power and campaign for revenge and retribution.”

Sarafina Chitika, senior spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign, said in a statement, “Convicted felon Donald Trump is so obsessed with his own election loss that he’s become unhinged, railing about guillotines and beheadings while excusing the violence we saw at our Capitol on January 6 and laying the groundwork for more violence if he loses again.”

Griffin suggested that the Biden campaign use the Trump email in their fundraising. After she was made aware that they did, she wrote on X/Twitter, “Well played, Dark Brandon. Well played.”

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