The 'Trump Smells' Commercial Explained

You may have seen a rather unusual commercial pop up lately. The ad hails from The Lincoln Project, a political action committee primarily comprised of moderate Republicans who oppose policies and beliefs espoused by former President Donald Trump and politicians similar to him. It depicts various images of smelly items, from moldy cheese to feces, while playing audio from people like Kathy Griffin talking about how much Trump literally stinks. It may seem a bit random, but it didn't materialize out of nowhere. 

The origins of the "Trump Smells" commercial lay with a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman from Illinois. The post reads, "I'm genuinely surprised how people close to Trump haven't talked about the odor. It's truly something to behold. Wear a mask if you can." It seems The Lincoln Project wanted to capitalize on the trending topic with a quick ad that's bound to ruffle Trump's feathers. 

A spokesperson for Trump lashed out at Kinzinger to The Independent with the following mature statement, "Adam Kinzinger farted on live TV and is an unemployed fraud." We wouldn't have expected anything less. The real question is whether Trump's alleged pungent odor will make its way into the upcoming film about the businessman-turned-president, "The Student," starring Sebastian Stan.

If someone wants to criticize Donald Trump, the former president has no shortage of controversies and contentious policies to pull from. But ultimately, he is just kind of weird and does weird things, so it makes sense people poke fun at those things more often. Remember when the internet lost its mind because he tweeted "Covfefe?" What was up with that? Therefore, his reportedly foul odor is a prime target, especially since it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility, with numerous people having commented on it. And reports of a signature Trump smell date back to the 1980s with one of the mogul's earliest rivals — SPY Magazine.

SPY was a satirical publication that frequently picked fights with Donald Trump. And in the aftermath of Adam Kinzinger's comments, SPY co-creator Kurt Andersen posted on X some reminders that he's been fighting the good fight for decades. He posted, "OMG. Just reminded of our alternative nickname in SPY–'Donald 'STINKY' Trump,' his ID in gossip items in lieu of the formal 'short-fingered vulgarian.' Note the earliest one, from 1988, concerning his 'threatened presidential aspirations.' Yes, we were prophets." He even includes images from some old SPY pieces featuring the descriptor.

Given the litany of legal problems Trump faces, a reputation for being stinky is probably the least of his worries at the moment. But even though "South Park" laid off the Donald Trump jokes, everyone else sees him as fair game.