GOP Senators Blast Trump’s Gov’t-Funded Ads

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GOP Senators Blast Trump’s Gov’t-Funded AdsLawmakers see another abuse of presidential power. They’re struggling to find a remedy.
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GOP Senators Blast Trump’s Gov’t-Funded AdsLawmakers see another abuse of presidential power. They’re struggling to find a remedy.
Joe Perticone • FREE PREVIEW
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Good afternoon, and welcome back to Press Pass. The House and Senate are both done working until after the midterm elections. Fortunately, Managing Editor Sam Stein has (provisionally) agreed not to freeze me in carbonite until they’re back. Instead, I’m going to be covering the most important races that will determine the fate of Congress. I’ll also be getting into the stuff you don’t see on the public-facing side of political campaigns, like where the money is and isn’t flowing in this final stretch. Get full access to all my coverage this fall, plus everything my colleagues are doing in the lead-up to the midterms, by upgrading to a Bulwark+ membership at the link below.
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Today’s edition is about the federal government using taxpayer money to run Trump campaign advertisements during NFL games. It’s a blatantly illegal practice, and to my surprise, most of the senators I spoke to—even the Republicans!—agreed with me about that. Unfortunately, they haven’t shown much willingness to do anything about it.
In addition, Republican lobbyist and political organizer Matt Schlapp has rebuilt his lobbying business following a few years on the outs. Take a look at which industries are leaning on his access to the Trump administration and Congress to pursue their interests. Lastly, I want to know what your Halloween costumes are going to be this year. All that and more, below.
(Photo illustration by Bill Kuchman/The Bulwark | Photos: Getty, Shutterstock)
Government-funded gravy train
The federal government is running television spots during NFL games featuring President Donald Trump advocating for his personal political interests. Senators from both parties who spoke with me about them, including members of the committee whose jurisdiction controls the money being spent on these ads, described familiar feelings of impotence in response to the president’s latest flouting of laws and norms: disappointment in his heedless behavior coupled with few ideas about how to stop it.
“This is the final battle,” Trump’s voiceover says during one ad as he walks down a hallway mean-mugging for the camera. “With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government.¹ We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”
If you’re feeling some déjà vu, it might be because Trump posted the exact same ad on Truth Social while running for president in 2024. (His caption for the Truth Social post invited viewers to text TRUMP to a five-digit number, a tactic he’s been using since 2016 to build his campaign’s contact list for direct updates.) Another ad celebrates his legislative accomplishments and offers the reassurance that “America will never be a Communist country.”
Trump reportedly pushed for and has been directly involved with the ad blitz. But unlike previous federal advocacy campaigns, these TV spots do not push a specific government program or policy. They’re just paeans to Trump himself.
I asked every senator I could find what they thought about the ads. Some of them were very blunt. ...
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