The leading Democratic super PAC is flooding Arizona TV stations with an advertisement that accuses President Trump of negligence in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 30-second spot from Priorities USA splices together audio clips of Trump in which he appears to minimize the danger the coronavirus poses in the United States. The advertisement concludes with a video clip of the president saying: “No, I don’t take responsibility at all,” his response to a question from a reporter earlier this month who asked if he was at fault for the scope of the pandemic.
The Democratic group is spending $600,000 to air the spot in what it described as an “initial” investment in Arizona, an emerging White House battleground. The Republican presidential nominee has won Arizona in every contest since 1996. But Democrats flipped a Senate seat in the state in 2018, their first such victory in a generation, and a recent poll showed Joe Biden, the likely Democratic nominee, leading Trump in the race for Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes.
“Donald Trump spent weeks downplaying the threat of the coronavirus, and his inaction left the country unprepared for this crisis,” Guy Cecil, Priorities USA chairman, said in a statement.
The advertisement was already running in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, part of a $6 million buy the super PAC is devoting to a campaign that criticizes the president’s management of the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to television stations in those states demanding they pull the spot on the grounds that its claims are false. It appears the request was unsuccessful.
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“Multiple independent fact checkers have debunked the exact same false claim made in a [Joe] Biden campaign ad,” Trump campaign special counsel Alex Cannon said in the letter, according to a press release. “Because PUSA’s ad’s central point is deliberately false and misleading, your station has an obligation to cease and desist from airing it immediately to comply with FCC licensing requirements, to serve the public interest, and to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation.”
Democrats across the board have been highly critical of Trump’s approach to addressing the spread of the coronavirus. But thus far, the attacks have had a minimal impact on voters’ opinions.
The president has received mostly positive reviews for his approach to the pandemic — 49.4% in the RealClearPolitics average. And, his job approval ratings overall, 47% on average, are among the highest of his presidency.
