WASHINGTON (AP) – President That of Joe Biden re-election campaign is spending $50 million through the end of June, a blitz that includes its first television ad trumpeting that of Donald Trump The felony conviction indicates the Democratic outgoing president is seeking to make his Republican opponent’s legal troubles a bigger issue as November approaches.
The ad campaign comes as Election Day is still months away. But the Biden campaign says it wants to more clearly define the choice between the candidates before the first debate between them in Atlanta on June 27.
The ad campaign includes more than $1 million for media reaching Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters, as well as a spot highlighting Trump convicted on 34 counts in New York hush money case. It will be broadcast on mainstream television and connected TV on streaming devices and mobile phones in battleground states as well as on national cable.
In addition to Trump’s criminal conviction, the ad titled “Character Matters” states that the former president was also found responsible for sexual assault And financial fraud in separate procedures. Trump also faces felony charges in three other criminal cases, none of which can go to trial before the November election.
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“In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is,” the ad’s narrator intones. It adds footage of a mug shot of Trump and Biden supporters cheering: “This election is between a convicted felon who only wants for himself and a president who fights for your family. »
Biden has also frequently spoken about Trump’s 34 felony convictions while… decrying the former president for claiming that the proceedings against him were politically motivated. Biden says “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say it was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.”
Hunter, Biden’s son, was convicted last week in Delaware of three criminal charges related to purchasing a revolver in 2018, when, prosecutors say, he lied on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using drugs or addicted to drugs. The president said he would accept the outcome of the case and “continue to respect the legal process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
A central part of Biden’s re-election strategy is also highlighting Trump’s policy proposals for a second term and inflaming disaffected Democrats and independent voters. Yet the campaign producing advertising that relies heavily on Trump’s conviction and including him in such a large ad buy indicates a renewed effort to make Trump’s legal problems an election issue in some way Biden’s team has already resisted.
“It’s a stark contrast, and it’s a contrast that matters deeply to the American people,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement. “And that’s why we’ll make sure to remind voters every day how Joe Biden is fighting for them, while Donald Trump is running a campaign focused on one man: himself.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has maintained, without evidence, that Biden or Justice Department officials orchestrated the New York trial against him for political reasons. He and his allies also raised the prospect of a pursuing political opponents as revenge if he returns to the White House.
Caroline Leavitt, CEO of the Trump campaign, said the Biden administration has “weaponized the justice system against President Trump” and that the contrast between her candidate and Biden “will be very clear on the debate stage.”
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This story has been corrected to show that the Biden spokesperson’s last name is Tyler, not Taylor.