President Biden’s campaign is taking aim at former President Donald Trump’s legal issues with a new TV ad calling Trump a “convicted felon.”
Trump was found guilty last month of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in an effort to prevent voters from learning about an alleged sexual encounter between the two. Trump denies that the sexual encounter ever took place.
The ad, titled “Character Matters,” begins with a narrator saying, “In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is.” It then goes on to point not only to his 34 felony convictions, but also to the former president for which he is being held accountable sexual abuse and defamation in May 2023 and the Civil case in New York City in which a judge ruled that the Trump Organization had committed fraud.
“This election is between a convicted criminal who is only out for himself and a president who fights for your family,” the ad ends, as the campaign appears to highlight the contrast between the two candidates.
During his various lawsuits, Trump has denied any wrongdoing and tried to discredit prosecutors. He has indicated that he would appeal the conviction from the ‘hush money’ trial regarding Stormy Daniels’ payments.
The Biden campaign ad will run in battleground states just over a week before the first presidential debate on June 27 and is part of a $50 million dollar ad buy for the month of June.
“Trump approaches the first debate like a convicted felon who continues to prove he will do anything and harm anyone if it means more power and revenge for Donald Trump,” Michael Tyler, communications director for Biden-Harris 2024, said in a statement on the advertisement. “We will make sure we remind voters every day how Joe Biden is fighting for them, while Donald Trump runs a campaign focused on one man and one man only: himself.”
The 2020 rematch between Mr. Biden and Trump remains tight. A CBS News poll from June found that Mr. Biden and Trump are in principle bound both nationally and in theaters of war.
The ad is the latest evolution in the Biden campaign’s messaging on Trump’s legal issues. For months leading up to and through much of Trump’s “hush money” trial, the campaign refrained from relying heavily on the criminal proceedings, making only subtle references to Daniels’ name in press releases.
That changed in the final weeks of the trial. The campaign held a news conference outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan with actor Robert De Niro and two former officers who were on Capitol Hill during the January 6 riot.
In a statement responding to the ruling, Mr Biden said it reaffirmed “the American principle that no one is above the law” and said it is “reckless, dangerous and irresponsible for anyone to say this is ‘rigged’ just because they don’t like the verdict.”
Recent fundraising emails from Mr. Biden’s campaign also referenced the verdict.
“Here is the unvarnished truth: a group of twelve Americans from all walks of life reviewed the evidence and unanimously decided to convict Donald Trump,” said an email from early June.
Although Mr. Biden’s campaign has had an edge over Mr. Trump in terms of cash, Mr. Trump’s campaign has seen momentum in fundraising following the convictions. The former president’s campaign says it raised $52.8 million in the 24 hours after the verdict.
The initial reaction to Trump’s conviction did not appear to dramatically shake up the race, as most voters said it was not a factor in their vote, according to a June CBS News poll. That same poll, conducted after the decision, showed a slight increase in support from key parts of Mr. Biden’s base.
