Former President Donald Trump's mug shot is now appearing on TV in New Hampshire, thanks to a super PAC backing one of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.
The photo, taken last week by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office when Trump was booked as part of the Georgia election interference case, is featured in a new spot from Tell It Like It Is PAC, an outside group supporting former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
According to the ad tracking firm AdImpact, the super PAC ad is the first broadcast TV ad to show an image of Trump’s mug shot so far in the presidential race.
"Tired of the drama, the distractions, the lies? It's time for conservatives to win again," a narrator says as the camera zooms in on the image.
"Chris Christie: A former prosecutor who convicted child pornographers, corrupt politicians. A successful blue-state governor," the narrator continues. "Christie took on the teachers union and won, turned around Jersey's most violent city and got Democrats to cut taxes. A real conservative, Christie tells the truth and he'll beat Joe Biden easily."
The ad is part of a "six-figure" statewide ad buy on broadcast and cable networks, and it will also be featured on digital platforms in New Hampshire, according to a press release from the super PAC.
Christie is focusing much of his presidential campaign on the Granite State, where the open primary system allows independents to participate and the GOP primary electorate is typically more moderate than Iowa's relatively conservative caucus electorate.
The super PAC ad closes with footage of Christie embracing New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican and vocal Trump critic who has not yet endorsed a candidate in the presidential primary.
The pro-Christie super PAC isn't the only group taking advantage of the striking image of the former president's mug shot.
Trump's own campaign has been fundraising off the image, sending out email appeals for donations and selling T-shirts with the photo.
The Trump campaign sent out a fundraising email Monday night that claimed it had raised $9 million since the mug shot was publicly released last Thursday night.
