PHOTO: AFP
Trump says will pay for TV ads after pushback over taxpayer funding close to election
· The Straits Times- Donald Trump will personally fund or use MAGA committee funds for TV ads after criticism of taxpayer-funded ads near the November elections.
- The ads, celebrating a "golden age of America", faced bipartisan criticism.
- Trump defended the ads as positive promotion but agreed to stop using taxpayer money following backlash, as stated on his Truth Social post.
US President Donald Trump on Oct 5 said that he would pay for TV advertisements himself or with money raised from the MAGA political committee after pushback over the use of taxpayer-funded TV ads featuring him shortly before the November congressional elections.
Ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties have criticised the three nationally broadcast ads, which celebrate a “golden age of America”.
Lawmakers have questioned whether public funds are being used to promote Trump politically, while other critics say the spots may violate longstanding restrictions on government propaganda and political activity.
One ad features Trump declaring that “America will never be a communist country” while a chorus repeats the words “love me”. Another combines images of Mount Rushmore with footage of Trump praising a “golden age of America”.
In a post on his Truth Social site on Oct 5, Trump said he considered the ads to be “a positive promotion for our Great USA”, but that they would no longer be funded by taxpayers. REUTERS