A Republican anti-Trump group is making its largest push to date against the former GOP president with an ad buy to get voters to turn out for Kamala Harris . Republican Voters against Trump has dropped $11.5 million into a swing state ad blitz targeting the ex-president using testimony from former Trump voters. The ads will run through September in the presidential battleground states of Pennsylvania , Michigan , Wisconsin and Arizona as well as Nebraska ’s 2nd congressional district.
The ad includes videos of previous Trump voters who have flipped to support the vice president in the upcoming election. There will also be nearly eighty billboards erected as part of the campaign. It comes after a series of Republicans spoke in support of the Democratic presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month as the party also tries to cut into Republican support.
‘Donald Trump has destroyed the Republican Party,’ said Sarah Longwell, Executive Director of Republican Voters Against Trump about her group’s latest effort. ‘Every election cycle he drives more and more Republicans to vote for Democrats, because they believe Donald Trump and the GOP candidates who imitate him are unfit for office,’ she added. The 30-second ad features multiple former Trump voters talking about why they are supporting a Democrat come November as well as some explaining why they believe giving Trump a second term is dangerous.
They also blast him for his treatment of women and his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Longwell claimed the effort helps ‘build a permission structure’ for traditional GOP voters to reject the MAGA movement and cast ballots for a Democrat despite policy differences. At the same time, the 79 billboards feature former Trump voters from crucial swing states. They read ‘I’m a former Trump voter. I’m a Republican. I’m voting for Harris.’
The ad buy includes $4.5 million in Pennsylvania targeting Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia; $3 million in Michigan including in Detroit and Grand Rapids; $2.2 million in Wisconsin focused on markets in Madison and Milwaukee; $1.5 million in Phoenix, AZ and $375,000 in Nebraska. The effort comes alongside Democrats making their own push to flip moderate Republicans and Independent voters to support Harris.
Experts said both Republicans voting for Harris or even deciding not to vote and stay home rather than cast ballots for Trump could play a role along the margins of such a tight race. The Harris campaign even recruited Republicans to help.
The convention in Chicago last month featured a series of prominent former Trump officials, GOP lawmakers, local leaders and Republican voters who made the case for the Democratic presidential nominee. The push to flip Republicans started while Biden was still running for reelection.
The Biden-Harris campaign jumped on welcoming dejected Nikki Haley primary voters into the fold as Trump attacked her candidacy earlier this year. Haley has since announced she would vote for Trump but that has not stopped Democrats from seeking support from her voters.
In June, the campaign also announced the addition of a full-time National Republican Engagement Director dedicated to furthering outreach. Last month, it launched Republicans for Harris.
