Donald Trump received a major boost from the National Rifle Association on Wednesday when the organization announced a new $6.5 million ad buy aimed at bolstering support for the Republican presidential nominee among female swing voters and millennials.
The new spot features Kristi McMains, a 26-year-old woman who was attacked by a knife-wielding man and says she wouldn’t be alive if she hadn’t used the pistol she kept in her purse for self-defense.
“Every woman has a right to own a gun if she chooses. Hillary Clinton disagrees with that,” McMains says in the ad. “Donald Trump supports my right to own a gun.”
“This election comes down to my Second Amendment rights — specifically, what happens with the Supreme Court,” McMains told Politico. “Without my gun, I would not be alive. This is a tough election for a lot of people, but I know where Donald Trump stands on the Second Amendment, and I know where Hillary Clinton stands. I stand with Trump.”
With its latest ad, the NRA has spent about $17 million to give Trump a boost on the airwaves since the leading pro-gun group endorsed his candidacy in late May. Most of the organization’s ads have promoted Trump’s commitment to the Second Amendment while depicting Clinton as an enemy of gun owners who fervently supports burdensome and ineffective gun restrictions.
But the new ad with McMains demonstrates the steps outside groups are taking to widen Trump’s appeal among those who have been reluctant to support him, namely female voters and the youngest members of the electorate.
A spokeswoman for the NRA told Politico that the ad will run in five battleground states — Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada and North Carolina — in addition to airing on national cable.
