Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) joined growing criticism Monday against a taxpayer-funded “PSA” campaign from the Trump administration that includes repurposed campaign materials from the 2024 presidential election.
The latest ad, which includes an on-screen disclaimer that it’s “Paid for by the U.S. Government,” features President Donald Trump with a voiceover of him vowing to “expel the warmongers from our government” and “cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists” ahead of the November midterm elections.
“It’s a great message. I like the message,” Thune told reporters. “But it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”
The ad was the most recent campaign-style video funded by the federal government under the umbrella of what it calls “public service announcements.” The PSAs have drawn bipartisan scrutiny over concerns that taxpayer money is being misused to promote Trump and Republicans as voters prepare to head to the ballot box. The administration has spent north of $1.5 million on the three ads, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP ANTI-SOCIALIST AD PAID FOR BY US GOVERNMENT
Critics and government watchdog groups accuse the ads of violating federal campaign finance laws and ethics rules.
“This is the final battle with you at my side,” Trump says in the latest ad. “We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”