On Sunday, Chelsea Manning released her first video ad campaign just days after filing to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland.
Manning tweeted, “yup, we’re running for senate 😎🌈💕 #WeGotThis” on Sunday, along with the video campaign.
yup, we’re running for senate 😎🌈💕 #WeGotThis https://t.co/ynFv6w32np
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) January 14, 2018
Following that tweet, she sent out a subsequent tweet asking for donations to her campaign.
The video includes footage from the Charlottesville protests, as well as numerous clashes with police officers.
“We live in trying times. Times of fear, of suppression, hate,” Manning says in the background as the footage plays.
“We don’t need more or better leaders, we need someone willing to fight,” she continues.
The footage then includes talks between lawmakers, as well as President Trump.
“We need to stop asking them to give us our rights. They won’t support us. They won’t compromise,” Manning says.
“We need to stop expecting that our systems will somehow fix themselves. We need to actually take the reins of power from them,” Manning continues. “We need to challenge them at every level. We need to fix this. We don’t need them anymore. We can do better.”
“You’re damn right we got this,” she says at the end of the video.
Manning filed to run as a Democrat, where she would run against Sen. Ben Cardin in the November Democratic primary.
Manning, 30, is the transgender former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who leaked more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, making it the largest leak in United States history. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but her sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama. Manning was released from prison in May.
Manning was released from prison early after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence – the longest prison term given to an American leaker. Obama commuted Manning’s sentence just days before he left office.
Manning, who entered an all-male military prison as “Bradley,” announced he was transgender immediately after his sentencing in 2013.
When the military denied Manning’s request for hormones, Manning tried to commit suicide twice. Manning will remain an unpaid active duty soldier who is eligible for health care and other benefits.
To many people, Manning is an American traitor who does not deserve the spotlight or a public platform, let alone recognition for anything.
This is the video:
