Republican Voters Against Trump, the group of disaffected Republicans working to prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House, is stepping up its efforts with an $11.5 million ad buy in crucial states.
The group is rolling out a new ad featuring former Trump voters vowing never to support him again. They give a series of reasons for their decision, ranging from Trump’s role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, his denigration of women, and his 34 felony convictions.
The ads will target the three so-called “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which Joe Biden won in 2020 and which Kamala Harris, Biden’s vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, must retain in November. The group will invest $4.5 million in Pennsylvania, $3 million in Michigan and $2.2 million in Wisconsin, the Hill reported.
Ads are also being placed in Arizona and Nebraska, along with about 80 billboards strategically placed in swing states. These billboards are promoting former Trump voters who now plan to vote for Harris.
Republican Voters Against Trump Executive Director Sarah Longwell told MSNBC the thinking behind the ad buy was to give former Trump voters considering switching to Harris a “consent structure.” She said focus groups had shown “tremendous openness” among some Trump voters to supporting the vice president.
“We’re taking Trump’s voices and elevating them so that it sends a message to other Trump voters who are curious about Kamala,” Longwell said. “They’re interested in voting for her because Donald Trump is such a threat, or because people are bored with Trump — they’re bored with all the drama and tired of the insults.”
The Guardian’s poll tracker underscores how painfully close the presidential race is in the seven or so key states likely to decide the outcome of the November 5 election. Harris now leads Trump in all of the blue-wall states – by 0.5% in Pennsylvania, 1.1% in Michigan and 1.4% in Wisconsin – but those numbers are well within the margin of error, meaning the race is effectively neck and neck.
The launch of the new ads coincides with a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign to spotlight former Republicans who supported the Democratic candidate.
During the Democratic national convention in Chicago last month, several Republican speakers were invited to the main stage, including Trump’s former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and Adam Kinzinger, a former Illinois congressman who served on the Jan. 6 House committee.
