The political network funded majorly by billionaire Charles Koch is launching a series of digital ads that target former President Donald Trump. Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC that received millions of dollars during the 2022 election cycle from Koch Industries and the Koch-backed Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, gave CNBC a first look at some of the new digital ads. Koch and his network had numerous successes while Trump was in office, including tax cuts and the appointments of multiple conservative Supreme Court justices, but they also had their differences with him, particularly on Trump’s trade war with China.
Content of the Ads
The digital ads are aimed at convincing voters that if Trump becomes the Republican nominee next year, President Joe Biden will win re-election. The ads include titles like “Only Way,” which argues that “The only way Biden wins is if we nominate Trump again,” and “No Thanks,” which claims, “Trump can’t win” and “we need new leadership.”A third clip, named “Biden’s Secret Weapon,” says: “What’s Biden’s secret weapon? Donald Trump as the GOP nominee. Biden wins the White House and gets the House and Senate, too.” The ads cite public polls that indicate how key voters do not want Trump to be president again.
Target Audience and Koch-backed Group’s Plans
According to Americans for Prosperity Action spokesman Bill Riggs, the ads are targeting voters in the key early primary and caucus states Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Nevada. The Koch-backed group has not made a decision on who it plans to support in the Republican primary for president. The ads come after Americans for Prosperity CEO Emily Seidel said in a February memo to staff and activists that it would support a GOP candidate for president other than Trump. Recent data from Morning Consult shows Trump with 56% of support in the Republican primary, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing with 22% of the vote.
Americans for Prosperity Action was active during the 2022 midterm elections and could be on the precipice of exceeding their historic spending spree last cycle. Federal Election Commission records show the super PAC so far this cycle has spent over $300,000 on independent expenditures opposing Trump and Biden. The PAC finished the 2022 election cycle spending almost $70 million, with their three top candidates being former Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and former Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. All three were also endorsed by Trump.
The political network funded by billionaire Charles Koch is launching a series of digital ads targeting former President Donald Trump. The ads argue that if Trump becomes the Republican nominee next year, it will lead to President Joe Biden winning re-election. The Koch-backed group has not made a decision on who it plans to support in the Republican primary for president. The ads come after Americans for Prosperity CEO Emily Seidel said in a February memo to staff and activists that it would support a GOP candidate for president other than Trump. Recent data from Morning Consult shows Trump with 56% of support in the Republican primary, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing with 22% of the vote.
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