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Prior to Donald Trumps 1 a.m. Twitter rant last month raging against the group of RINO Republican...loser types at the so-called Lincoln Project, Ben Howe, a video editor and one of the top creative minds behind the super PACs notorious anti-Trump ads, had avoided associating himself with the group. I didnt publicly acknowledge my involvement until the president went after our Mourning in America ad, Howe told me during a phone interview, referencing a viral Lincoln Project spot blasting the Trump administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Once he did thatwell, it had been my personal mission to have him call me a loser someday. So, I was like, Okay, I cant stay quiet anymore.

Like the Lincoln Projects other members, Howethe creative mind, video editor, and, he said, sometimes narrating voice on many of the groups adsspent years supporting conservative policies and working on various Republican campaigns. In December, in an effort to help ensure Trump doesnt win a second term, Howe joined forces with Rick Wilson, a Defense Department appointee under then secretary Dick Cheney and GOP strategist who contributed to Rudy Giulianis winning mayoral ad campaigns; George Conway, a Washington attorney and husband of top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway who in 2017 was considered for a number of Justice Department posts before turning on the White House; Steve Schmidt, a top strategist for George W. Bushs 2004 bid, operations chief for John McCains 2008 presidential campaign, and campaign manager for Arnold Schwarzeneggers 2006 reelection bid for California governor; and John Weaver, the chief strategist for John Kasichs 2016 presidential campaign. Considered turncoats due to their shared opposition to Trump, the group united under the name of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, and formed a super PAC with the explicit goal of preventing Trump from being reelected by swaying swing voters and moderate Republicansand pissing him off in the process.

Howe first honed his skills as an ad creator working for the anti-Obama Tea Party movement. He launched his political ad-making career after his business, a trademark-research firm, went under during the recession. In 2010, he created a video promoting the Tea Party for RedState, a conservative website where his brother, Caleb Howe, wrote at the time. Following the clips semi-viral success, Howe was contracted by FreedomWorks, a Koch-founded advocacy group that played a major role in astroturfing the Tea Party wave, for another video. His success, he said, resulted in him working with the Heritage Foundation on video proposals of their own. His new company, Mister Smith Media, which he told me is named after the 1939 political dramedy starring Jimmy Stewart, went on to craft online clips and ads for Ted Cruzs inaugural Senate campaign, which has arguably proven to be the Tea Partys most enduring success in Washington.

In subsequent years, Howe told me his company continued to make videos for Heritage, National Review, and Senator John Cornyn, another Texas Republican. He didnt predict, nor was he prepared for, the rise of Trump, but for him it represented a breaking point. During the 2016 election, he vowed to phone bank for Hillary Clinton if Trump won the nomination. He subsequently created an oppo documentary about the Trump campaign titled The Sociopath in January of that year before I even left the party, he said.

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It Had Been My Personal Mission to Have Him Call Me a Loser: Meet the Lincoln Project Video Wiz Whose Ads Are Driving Trump Insane - Vanity Fair