Trump launches $55M ad blitz in final stretch

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President Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) are carpeting the airwaves the final two weeks leading up to Election Day on Nov. 3 with a massive $55 million ad blitz that will run in the key battleground states that will decide the winner of the White House race.

In a conference call Monday with news organizations including Fox News, the president’s re-election team unveiled their closing ad launch. Campaign manager Bill Stepien touted that “these are heavy buys” and noted that “this is approximately a 40% increase over or initial plans.”

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The ads will run in the crucial battlegrounds of Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada , Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio. Ads will also run in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states to divide their electoral votes by congressional district. Trump won Maine’s mostly rural 2nd CD in 2016, and the lastest public opinion polls indicate it’s neck and neck between the president and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the district.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Some of the ads court seniors by spotlighting Medicare savings achieved during the Trump administration. Every Republican presidential nominee since 2004 has won the 65 and older vote. Four years ago Trump captured the national vote of those 65 and older by a 52%-45% margin over Clinton, according to exit polls. But fast forward four years and the latest Fox News national poll indicates Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden with a slight 49%-47% edge over the president among seniors. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News national poll released last week showed a larger 54%-44% margin for Biden among voters 65 and older.

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This final ad push comes as the Trump campaign’s been vastly outspent by Biden’s team to run TV commercials in the key battlegrounds and nationally the past two months. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee have dramatically outraised the Trump campaign and the RNC the past two months and had a large cash on hand advantage heading into October.

Stepien said that the Biden advantage in the ad wars would be neutralized by the Trump campaign’s ground operation that has been built up over the past two years. He said the Biden campaign’s efforts this spring and summer to expand their ground game were “too late” and criticized the former vice president’s strategy for “putting it all on TV.”

Hoping to level the playing field,  Preserve America - a top pro-Trump super PAC that formed just six weeks ago, on Monday announced a new nearly $15 million ad blitz over the next week targeting the former vice president. The ad buy was first reported by Fox News.