United States President Donald Trump delivers a “Address to Young Americans” at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, on June 23, 2020.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Facing a growing disadvantage in polls, President Donald Trump’s campaign has begun reserving spots for a television ad blitz that will run in several decisive states during the final months of the race.
The purchase of ads, worth more than $ 90 million, comes when some in the Trump campaign see warning signs in several key states, including Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ad tracking companies Advertising Analytics and Medium Shopping announced that the Trump campaign is reserving ad time starting in September in key states of Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. Trump won all six states in 2016. The ad purchase is in addition to the ads currently airing against Joe Biden in North Carolina.
Advertising Analytics originally on Monday that the purchase is worth more than $ 16 million. Later, they noted that the purchase in all states was worth $ 95 million. The move comes after Trump beat Biden last week with his Facebook ad spend.
The new investment in these states comes when polls show Trump behind Biden, the supposed Democratic candidate. A New York Times Upshot / Sienna College poll has Biden ahead of Trump in Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida. Trump won these states by narrow margins against 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump has been besieged by critics who argue that he has not done enough to combat the coronavirus pandemic and that he was unable to show empathy during the nationwide protests that followed the police assassination of George Floyd.
The development also follows news that the Trump campaign reserves advertising space in Georgia, a traditionally trustworthy state for Republican presidential candidates. A recent Fox News poll had Biden ahead of Trump by two points.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not return a request for comment.
The new spending indicates that the Trump campaign is increasing its defense in the states it needs to win a second term.
Elsewhere, in Michigan, Trump is down in all recent public polls. That coincides with the current harvest of campaign data, according to people familiar with the matter. These people declined to be named as these internal results have yet to be released. Trump won Michigan in 2016.
Some in the campaign are convinced that the president faces obstacles even in Georgia and North Carolina, these people said.
However, the campaign considers New Hampshire, Minnesota and Nevada to be states at stake for Trump, these people added. Clinton won those states in 2016. Trump campaign data shows that Trump is ahead of Biden by wide margins in Texas, Ohio, and Florida, even though Biden is ahead of Trump in some of the state public polls, these people added.
Still, Trump campaign data shows Biden has a slight lead over Trump at Election College, one of these people said.
The struggles in Trump’s election campaign also appear to reflect the advantage that Biden and the Democrats had over the president and the Republican National Committee in their fundraising campaign in May.
Trump and the RNC combined to raise $ 74 million last month, while Biden, along with the Democratic National Committee, raised $ 80 million. Trump and the RNC, however, had $ 265 million available for June.
Note: This story was updated after Advertising Analytics released new expense figures.
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