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A new ad campaign glorifying President Trump is on the air on national cable and national networks including CBS beginning Thursday, and it’s being paid for by American taxpayers.
The first ad, which hit the airwaves Wednesday and aired on Fox News Channel, opens with Mr. Trump vowing, “We will defeat communism, socialism and Marxism in America.” Set over a soundtrack of JMSN’s song “Love Me,” flash-cut random shots from the president’s second administration appear with text on screen. The photos show the president at rallies, pardoning turkeys, at the White House with Christmas decorations, standing with the FIFA trophy, surrounded by flags, flanked by military leaders, outside the Taj Mahal, and more.
The ad repeatedly flashes “America will never be a communist country” on screen and also touts his administration’s tax cuts and other broad expressions of support for domestic manufacturing and law enforcement in text on screen. It ends with the voice of Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, declaring, “He’s the toughest, most resilient (man) I’ve ever met and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.”
In a post on X, JMSN said he did not grant a license for the use of “Love Me.”
“To anybody who has followed my career and knows what I stand for and built my career on, it should go without saying that I would never authorize my music to be used for ANY political agenda or campaign,” he said, and he indicated that no one asked him for permission to use it.
The ad, which appeared Wednesday night during “Primetime with Jesse Watters” and on Thursday afternoon, contains an on-screen disclosure that it was “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
A second ad that recounts the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and features Mr. Trump and his top Cabinet officials aired on CBS stations and other networks Thursday evening. CBS News has learned that there are multiple versions of the ads, with some 30 seconds long and others 60 seconds. The U.S. government produced the content and paid for the air time through an ad agency.
The White House, in response to CBS News’ inquiries about the pro-Trump ad, denied it was a political ad and called it a “public service announcement.”
“These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,” a White House spokesperson said. “The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”
A White House official said the PSAs “are clearly not political,” and noted, “The President is not on the ballot and the ads don’t have a call to action.”
Previous presidents have run PSAs, too. During the Biden administration, all of the living presidents except Mr. Trump appeared in a PSA to encourage Americans to obtain a COVID vaccination.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire wrote to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to demand information about the cost of running the ad and said it “raises deep concerns about the Trump Administration’s use of taxpayer dollars.”
“The advertisement does not have a clear official government purpose and appears to run afoul of federal prohibitions against the use of appropriated funds as part of ‘a general propaganda effort designed to aid a political party or candidates,'” Hassan wrote. She also asked the White House for information about the contractors involved, the source of the funding and whether funding was diverted from federal agencies in order to run the ad.
In another letter to Wiles, the top Democratic appropriators in the House and Senate demanded that the ad be immediately pulled from air, saying it was a violation of federal law.
“This is the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and illegal misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland wrote.
Campaign finance experts said the commercial likely does not violate election law, even as it generated scrutiny on social media for appearing to be a campaign ad.
“It doesn’t appear to be supporting or endorsing a candidate for public office,” said Richard Briffault, a law professor at Columbia University. Briffault, however, agreed with Hassan that there are questions about whether it could violate the propaganda law.
Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada has a bill to ban political ads featuring cabinet members that are paid for with tax dollars. She is trying to introduce an amendment to it Thursday to address at least the look and content of this new Trump spot.
