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Democrats have outspent Republicans on election advertising by 73 per cent in the last 20 days, with a specific increase in messaging that emphasizes Vice-President Kamala Harris’s character while casting doubt on Donald Trump’s mental capacity and fitness for office.
At the same time, the GOP boosted its investment on ads railing against taxes and transgender healthcare, and put fewer dollars into ads about the economy, immigration, and inflation, according to data from AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm.
Democrats have poured $178 million into campaign ads as the November 5 election approaches, while Republicans have put in $103 million. Trump, however, “holds the advantage over… Harris in campaign battleground future reservations,” AdImpact said.
The numbers, which AdImpact posted on social media earlier in the week, were first reported by Newsweek.
Additional data AdImpact provided to CNN offers a deeper dive into the expenditures by both parties, who have presented a radically divergent view of today’s United States to the American electorate. During the first two weeks of October, Trump, who whips up rally crowds with (almost entirely inaccurate) warnings of the country being “invaded” by hordes of lawless immigrants and out-of-control crime in cities and small towns across the nation, spent $21.4 million on spots about transgender healthcare, or more than a third of its ad budget, which went all but unmentioned in GOP messaging as recently as August.
Harris, for her part, spent $26.5 million during the same time period on a category AdImpact calls “character,” which has translated into TV commercials about Harris’s longtime service as the California attorney general, a US senator, and her current position as vice-president, as they call into question Trump’s ability to govern.
Another difference parsed out by AdImpact: Republicans spent 80 per cent of their ad dollars on “negative” advertising during the first half of October, 20 per cent on “contrast” ads, and nothing on “positive” ads, the three categories the firm tracks. On the other hand, Democrats spent 23 per cent on “negative” ads, 58 per cent on “contrast” ads, and 19 percent on “positive” ads.
The Trump campaign told Newsweek that Trump “has put together the best campaign team in the business as evidenced by his fundraising prowess, world-class events, and hard-hitting ads,” and that “[e]very dollar raised by President Trump’s donors is valued, carefully considered, and wisely spent to maximize President Trump’s chances of victory on November 5.”
