Trump’s campaign and his allies have taken his fight against his indictment to the airwaves, launching two TV ads in recent days attacking the prosecution as politically motivated and drawing comparisons to President Joe Biden’s own classified documents probe..
One ad that launched late last week decries the “radical left” for trying to take Trump down, with a narrator saying, “Like a pack of rabid wolves, they attack.” The ad so far has aired on a handful of stations, including Newsmax and MSNBC in the Washington, DC market, per AdImpact.
The pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc also launched a new ad related to Trump’s indictment, which hit the airwaves on Monday and appears to have more money behind it. The ad has mainly aired on Fox News, according to AdImpact tracking.
The ad notes the investigation into Biden’s own handling of classified documents (which is still ongoing) and a narrator says, the Justice Department “didn’t indict Biden. Instead, Biden’s DOJ went after Trump — anything to block him from becoming president again. Stand with President Trump against Biden’s corruption.”
MAGA Inc. has been dominating ad spending in the GOP primary in recent weeks, but the group is about to get some more competition. Never Back Down, the super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has spent more than $2.5 million on a new ad buy, starting Thursday and running through Tuesday, in Iowa and South Carolina and on Fox News nationally.
In other campaign news…
Haley changes her tune: Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley changed her tune on Trump’s indictment, more sharply criticizing Trump during a Monday Fox News appearance, per NBC News’ Ed Demaria and Emily Gold. Haley said, saying that if the indictment is true, Trump “was incredibly reckless with our national security” adding that his actions “puts all our military men and women in danger.” The morning after the news of Trump’s indictment broke, Haley lamented “prosecutorial overreach, double standards, and vendetta politics.”
Christie on CNN: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie participated in a town hall on CNN Monday, and Christie town hall and accused other presidential contenders of “playing games” by holding back criticism of Trump.
Campaign cash: DeSantis is participating a private fundraiser in New York later this month, per CNBC’s Brian Schwartz, who writes that the fundraiser is “set to be hosted by at least four Wall Street executives, including one with past ties to a firm backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, a frequent target of DeSantis and other Republicans.”
Judging Trump’s judges: During a conservative radio interview Monday, DeSantis downplayed the three Supreme Court justices Trump nominated during his presidency by saying: “I respect the three appointees he did, but none of those three are at the same level of Justices Thomas and Justice Alito.
No Labels may hinge on Trump: Politico reports that No Labels is unlikely to move forward on their possible third-party presidential bid if the GOP nominates anyone other than Trump.
Eyes on the general: NBC News’ Peter Nicholas and Alex Seitz-Wald report that while South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott may be a longshot in the GOP presidential race, Democrats fear he would pose a formidable challenge to Biden’s re-election if he becomes the GOP nominee. Meanwhile, Scott’s campaign announced endorsements on Monday from more than 140 state GOP officials, including a slew of state legislators, mayors and local city councilmembers, per a press release from his campaign.
Burgum on the air: North Dakota GOP Gov. Doug Burgum released the first TV ads of his presidential campaign, as he appears to be leveraging his own personal wealth to hit the airwaves.
Frank with Francis: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is in the spotlight this week due to Trump’s arraignment in his city, is also weighing a run for president himself. Asked by NBC News’ Tom Llamas in an interview if DeSantis would make a good president, Suarez said, “Well, listen, if I were, if I thought someone else would be a good president, I wouldn’t be running. Or I wouldn’t be talking about the possibility of running for president.”
“Trump can’t win”: Two new groups largely financed by conservative billionaire Charles Koch are running new digital ads criticizing Trump, per CNBC, saying that the former president can’t win and that he’s “Biden’s secret weapon.”
