By Rajwa Quasim
The Democratic National Committee has sued President Donald Trump, alleging that television advertisements funded with taxpayer money were used to promote the president. The lawsuit seeks a court order blocking the Trump administration from doing so.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. The DNC argues that the campaign-style advertisements violate a federal ban on using taxpayer money for “publicity or propaganda” and amount to an improper use of government resources for political purposes.
The ads began airing in September and have already cost taxpayers more than $12 million, according to media tracking firm AdImpact. About $20 million in funding from the Department of Homeland Security has been allocated for the ad campaign. The ads feature Trump prominently and promote his policies and achievements. Some also include messages about the president’s “golden age” of America, while another declares that “Americans will never be a communist country.”
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One of the ads also promotes his military actions in Venezuela. The ads have aired during NFL games and on major television networks, including ABC, NBC, MS NOW, CBS, CNN and Fox News.
The taxpayer-funded ads have drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. They argue that taxpayer-funded communications should serve a public information purpose rather than promote a sitting president weeks before the midterm elections. The lawsuit states, “With less than 30 days remaining before the midterm election and millions of public dollars apportioned to pay for propaganda ads still unspent, the DNC has no choice but to take action in defense of free and fair elections.”
The lawsuit further states, “President Trump personally directed this illegal activity. The White House office crafted the partisan campaign. The Office of Management and Budget shifted $20 million to pay for it. And U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has carried it out. These unlawful actions are ultra vires and violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).”
DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that the ads are “a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November. Americans deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes.”
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Meanwhile, Trump has defended the advertisements, describing them as “positive promotion” for the U.S. The White House has similarly defended them as public service announcements, comparing them with communications used by previous administrations to promote government policies.
Trump said Monday that taxpayers would no longer pay for the ads and that MAGA Inc., a super PAC, would fund the campaign going forward. The administration, however, denied that it would reimburse taxpayers for money already spent.
A fifth ad continued to air Tuesday with “paid for by the U.S. Government” displayed, even after Trump said MAGA Inc. would take over the costs.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, about 86% of Americans either did not support or considered it inappropriate to use taxpayer funds to run ads featuring the president when an election is approaching. Only 17% of Republicans approved of the ads, the poll found.