Well, it was only a matter of time before the U.S. presidential candidates started trying to capitalize on the nationwide phenomenon that is Pokémon Go. A new attack ad posted yesterday by Donald Trump imagines his opponent, Hillary Clinton, as a Pokémon to be captured and, presumably, locked away forever.
Clinton’s Pokémon name is, of course, "Crooked Hillary," and she’s listed as a Career Politician-type creature with a CP (combat power) rating of 1. The clip describes her as "often found lying to the American people, rigging the system, and sharing TOP SECRET emails." The ad also imagines Clinton’s next evolution as "unemployed."
To be clear, while Trump posted the brief video on his Facebook page, it does not appear to be an ad that his campaign created. The required "I’m Donald Trump and I approve this message" notice is nowhere to be found, and the video doesn’t say that it was paid for by the Trump campaign.
What’s far more likely, considering how much time the candidate spends retweeting messages from his supporters, is that one of the Trump faithful — someone who’s a bit more savvy when it comes to social media — made the video. We’ve reached out to the Trump campaign for clarification, and will update this article with any information we receive.
In what is perhaps a coincidence, Trump posted the video on the same day that Clinton herself invoked the name of Pokémon Go. During a campaign stop yesterday in Annandale, Virginia, Clinton joked that app developers could make a mobile game to increase voter turnout: "I don't know who created Pokémon Go, but I'm trying to figure out how we get them to have Pokémon Go to the Polls!"
Here's video of @HillaryClinton talking about Pokemon Go pic.twitter.com/LxEpgrxXaO
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 14, 2016
