President Donald Trump’s allies are unleashing a $100 million advertising blitz to help Republicans survive the midterms — but they are largely leaving Trump himself out of it.
Republican advertisers aired more than 500 television ads costing over $160 million during the first half of September, according to a new CNN analysis of AdImpact data. Just 12 ads totaling about $1 million in spending mentioned the president — less than 1% of GOP advertising spending.
“His near absence from GOP advertising underscores the degree to which he has become a political liability,” CNN reported Thursday, pointing to Trump’s 36% approval rating.
The advertising snub is a “striking contrast” to Trump’s repeated plea for supporters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
Republican advertisers told CNN that the party’s best chance of retaining the Senate majority lies in attacking Democratic candidates rather than showcasing Trump.
“The president is not the best message or our best messenger at this point,” one veteran Republican ad strategist involved in several midterm contests told the network.
For Democrats, however, Trump is front and center. They spent nearly $23 million on 95 ads mentioning the MAGA leader during the same period, often tying Republican candidates directly to him.
A MAGA-linked PAC, No Going Back, has reserved more than $100 million in fall advertising, but has avoided mentioning Trump so far, according to CNN.
The analysis Thursday noted that there have been no GOP ads detected that promote Trump’s promise to issue $5,000 checks to all U.S. citizens if Republicans keep control of Congress.
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