Why Trump unexpectedly reversed course on taxpayer-funded campaign ads: As this week got underway, and JD Vance prepared to hit the campaign trail in Alaska, a reporter asked the vice president a straightforward question: Does he believe publicly funded campaign ads are “a good use of taxpayer dollars”?
The Ohio Republican replied, “I’m sure that some people don’t like it, but if you look at the message of those advertisements, they’re not partisan.” He added that, as far as he’s concerned, there’s nothing “unusual” about the election-season tactics.
Like too much of what the vice president says, the argument was plainly absurd. The White House has used taxpayer money to air political propaganda — including one commercial that was one of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign ads — which is both legally dubious and unprecedented, making Vance’s defense literally unbelievable.
But in an unexpected move, hours later, the president went in the opposite direction. MS NOW reported:
President Donald Trump’s super PAC will pay for his campaign-style television ads moving forward, a White House official told MS NOW on Monday, shifting the cost away from taxpayers after the government-funded ad drew bipartisan backlash.
The clarification came hours after Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would stop using taxpayer dollars to fund the ads and suggested he could pay for them himself or with money raised by MAGA Inc. Asked whether Trump intended to use his personal money or his super PAC funds, a White House official told MS NOW that MAGA Inc. will pay for the ads “moving forward.”
Trump’s online statement said he decided to reverse course in response to fury from “the Radical Left,” which was bizarre, not only because many Republican officials publicly denounced the misuse of public funds, but because the president has never taken much of an interest in what’s sparked complaints from “the Radical Left.”
What’s more, the fact that Trump’s super PAC will pay for the ads “moving forward” leaves lingering questions about when, if ever,… https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-campaign-ads-super-pac-taxpayer-money-election-midterms-propaganda