A sect of the Republican establishment showed Tuesday it's taking Donald Trump's presidential bid seriously. And not in a good way.
In a new television ad released Tuesday, the conservative Club For Growth compares the real estate mogul's policy positions to those of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
"Which presidential candidate supports higher taxes, national health care, and the Wall Street bailout? It's Donald Trump!" the ad says. "Trump wants us to think he's Mr. Tell It Like It Is, but he has a record, and it's very liberal. He's really just playing us for chumps."
Not once but twice in the span of the 30-second video, the Club For Growth deploys a 2004 interview clip of Trump saying, "In many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat."
Another Club For Growth ad released Tuesday accuses Trump of supporting "eminent domain abuse" to allow corporations to seize and demolish private property.
The Club For Growth plans to spend $1 million airing its anti-Trump ads in Iowa, which looks like peanuts when you consider that the pro-Jeb Bush super PAC Right To Rise is mounting a $5.89 million ad campaign in Iowa this week.
But as the political world girds itself for the second GOP debate with Trump at center stage, factions of the Republican Party are indicating they won't let up on their intraparty Trump fight until he's pushed out of the primary.