RNC spends $9M for final battleground TV ads on health care

The Republican National Committee plans to spend an additional $9 million on battleground-state TV ads warning that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's health care plan would hurt senior citizens, Fox News has learned.

The 30-second spot, titled "Noise," is set to run in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, the committee told Fox. The advertisement focuses on what it says are the consequences of the proposal from President Trump's opponent.

RNC TO SPEND $25M ON TV ADS IN BATTLEGROUND STATES IN FINAL STRETCH TO ELECTION DAY

The narrator, a senior White man, tells viewers that the so-called "Bidencare" would lead to hospitals shuttering, put Medicare at risk and give benefits to illegal immigrants.

The RNC said its data shows that the majority of American seniors oppose giving free benefits to illegal immigrants and that the ads are designed to cut through "the noise" to inform voters that President Trump is the only candidate who will protect the Medicare system.

The advertisement directs Americans to the website SeniorsBeware.com which lists other potential pitfalls of the plan from Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, including a hefty price tag, a tax increase and the elimination of private health insurance.

The sources cited in "Noise" include The Heritage Foundation, NBC, The New York Times, and a memorable moment from the June 27, 2019 debate during which all Democratic candidates raised their hands in favor of providing care for illegal immigrants.

“Instead of protecting access to health care choices and promoting quality care for seniors, Joe Biden is instead focused on giving free benefits to illegal immigrants," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News. "President Trump has strengthened Medicare and fought to deliver greater security, affordability and transparency to our health care system, and the RNC will continue to aggressively expose this contrast in the final week of the campaign.”

The RNC said it wouldn't allow "baseless" attacks from Democrats -- who have made health care a top issue during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic -- to go unanswered. 

Speaking at the final presidential debate last week, the two septuagenarian candidates sparred over the issue, with the president repeating once more that he'd "like to terminate ObamaCare" and that "pre-existing conditions will always stay" covered.

The administration is currently spearheading a challenge to the health care law at the Supreme Court, and the president campaigned heavily on repealing and replacing ObamaCare in 2016.

Biden has said his plan, which incorporates progressive ideas and reflects the popularity of a Medicare-for-all push during the Democratic primaries, will "cost some money" but also make health care "affordable." 

Biden denied that he would eliminate private insurance and pushed back on the president. 

"He’s been promising a health care plan since he got elected. He has none," said Biden. 

The former vice president's campaign website pledges to protect supporters by defending and building on the Obama-era Affordable Care Act using a public health option like Medicare, extending coverage, shielding abortion rights, giving middle-class families a premium tax credit and standing up to drug companies' abuse of power.

Biden, who has a loosely constructed plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic that has killed almost 230,000 Americans, has repeatedly accused Trump of lacking a cohesive strategy, a claim the president has dismissed. 

While White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNN Sunday that the U.S. is "not going to control the pandemic," he said it would "control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation areas."

At the debate, the president promised again that a vaccine is around the corner and, in rallies since, he has pledged a return to the normal routines of pre-pandemic life.

The "Promises Kept" section of Trump's campaign website, meanwhile, includes repealing ObamaCare's individual health care-coverage mandate, signing a six-year extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program to fund care for nine million children, combatting the opioid crisis and approving the largest number of generic drugs in history.

The RNC's $9 million ad buy is part of a $25 million television campaign. Last week, the committee spent $14 million more on similar messaging to seniors.

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President Trump has been aggressively targeting battleground voters over the past week, banking on a path to victory through the Rust Belt or Sun Belt.

More than 69 million Americans have already voted across the country — a figure that's nearly half of the total votes counted four years ago.