Pro-Trump Super PAC to Spend $10 Million on Attack Ads Against Biden

[RandySF]

The super PAC supporting President Trump’s re-election is planning a $10 million advertising spree to attack former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in three Rust Belt states that were crucial to the president’s 2016 victory, officials with the group said on Wednesday.

The announcement about the ads — which will appear in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — came after a growing chorus of complaints from White House officials, campaign aides and a wide range of the president’s allies about a lack of activity from the group, America First. Outside Democratic groups have started airing blistering ads criticizing Mr. Trump’s belated response to the coronavirus and telling Americans that the country needs to elect a leader it “can trust.”

Trump campaign officials have long been frustrated by what they see as lagging fund-raising by America First, which had raised $106 million as of its last filing on Jan. 31. The former head of the Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon, left that post last spring to become the top fund-raiser for the group. The hope was that as a self-made billionaire, Ms. McMahon would be able to make multimillion dollar requests of other donors as a peer. But even with Ms. McMahon at the helm, little has improved, officials say.

Campaign officials also see a clear opportunity in the midst of a pandemic to draw a contrast between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, the likely Democratic nominee, that they think has not been fully capitalized on, and that would typically be a job taken on by the outside group.



https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/us/politics/trump-vs-biden-super-pac.html