Trump, Super PAC to Finance Ads After Criticism of Taxpayer Funding
Is this a patriotic, non-partisan campaign or a simply packaged as a public service announcement?
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Above: Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds on Oct. 5. Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
The Facts
- U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday on Truth Social that he and his super PAC, MAGA Inc., will pay for television ads promoting his administration, reversing the use of taxpayer dollars after criticism from lawmakers in both parties.
- "I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.," Trump wrote, while saying funding them with government money was "a rather standard thing to do."
- A White House official said MAGA Inc. will cover the ads moving forward, but not those already aired. Ad-tracking firm AdImpact estimated at least $10 million in federal funds has been spent on the commercials since September.
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The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
Public money should never bankroll a glossy campaign spot recycled from a presidential run, complete with hero shots and jabs at political enemies. Calling this campaign a public service announcement changes nothing. When watchdogs shrug and Congress looks away, the administration's funding abuses get bolder.
Pro-Trump narrative
Governments have always used the airwaves to explain policy and rally the public, and nobody screamed propaganda when this happened under former presidents. A message about loving the country and rejecting communism names no candidate and asks for no vote, so this outrage is manufactured. Patriotism isn't partisan and spending to promote national values isn't a scandal.
