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Allies of former President Donald Trump have increased their advertising spending after Vice President Kamala Harris joined the presidential race.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
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Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
Polls show former President Trump trailing Vice President Harris in several states, and Trump allies are stepping on the gas to try to catch up, according to a new NPR analysis of advertising data provided in collaboration with the ad tracking firm AdImpact.
The Trump campaign and outside groups supporting it (we call them Team Trump) are now outspending Team Harris in four of the seven key states, a stark shift from earlier in the campaign, when Biden dominated the airwaves.
The Trump campaign has said increased spending was always in the plans for both conventions, but the surge includes states like North Carolina that previously leaned Trump’s way. Trump allies spent little there before Harris entered the race. The new investments there show how things have evolved.
Pennsylvania is by far the state that spent the most on advertising over the past month, spending nearly $100 million in total. That figure is 54% higher than the next highest state, Michigan.
However, when you factor all of the above into account, when considering national advertising and non-state-specific digital advertising, Harris’ team has outspent Trump’s team in the past month, by more than $50 million ($246.3 million vs. $192 million).
This is largely due to Harris’s spending during the Olympics, as well as her dominance on the internet. In the digital realm, Harris’ team has spent about $72 million, compared to Trump’s $16 million. Younger voters absorb more information online and undoubtedly represent a key part of Harris’ potential base.
In total, more than $1.6 billion has been spent on ads that have already aired or been reserved until Election Day since the beginning of this presidential cycle. Democrats have spent $882 million versus Republicans’ $721 million.
Some $1.2 billion has been spent on ads that have already run, and the parties are almost evenly split.
The race to define Harris
Opinions about Harris were not consolidated when she entered the race, so perhaps it is not surprising that most of the ads have tried to define who she is.
In total, the top five ads aired over the past month are all about Harris and total nearly $100 million.
Democrats are running vague ads focusing on her biography and countering the former first lady.
Fact-checking ads
He most aired ad —more than 45,000 times—is from Harris’ campaign and speaks heavily to her background. It echoes her convention speech, portraying her as a woman who grew up working class, who was raised by her mother and notes that she worked at McDonald’s. She then pivots to health care and housing costs, while criticizing Trump for his tax cuts that benefited the wealthy.
The ad with the most money behind it ($25 million) is An anti-Harris ad from a Trump-supporting super PAC, MAGA Inc., is attacking her for her record handling immigrants in the U.S. illegally during her time as a prosecutor.
But a The accusation in the ad, while somewhat true, is misleading.Her office convicted MS-13 gang member Edwin Ramos of murdering a father and two sons. Ramos is now serving three consecutive life sentences. Fulfilling a campaign promise, Harris did not seek the death penalty, a decision Conservatives have criticized.
The ad also alleges that Harris “let” Ramos “get on with” another crime before he committed the murder. The facts on this are complicated. Ramos had been pulled over for illegally tinted windows and no front license plate. The passenger in the car, Erik Lopez, got out and ran. Police saw Lopez throw a gun into a ditch. Both men were arrested. But Harris did not press charges against Ramos because, as The San Francisco Chronicle reported According to Harris’ office, “there was no evidence that Ramos knew Lopez had a gun.”
Despite his immigration status, Ramos was not turned over to federal authorities because of San Francisco’s policy of being a “sanctuary city.” But, at the time, Harris opposed the city’s policy. of not handing over to federal authorities minors who are in the country illegally. Ironically, in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries he faced criticism from the left for this reason.
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