An anti-Trump Republican group is mounting its biggest campaign yet against the former Republican president with an ad buy aimed at getting voters to vote for Kamala Harris.
Anti-Trump Republican voters have spent $11.5 million on an advertising campaign in key states targeting the former president using testimony from former Trump voters.
The ads will run through September in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona, as well as Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.
The ad includes videos from past Trump voters who supported the vice president in the upcoming election.
Nearly eighty billboards will also be installed as part of the campaign.
Anti-Trump Republican voters have launched an $11.5 million ad campaign featuring former Trump voters explaining why they will vote for Kamala Harris. It’s their biggest campaign yet
This comes after a number of Republicans spoke in support of the Democratic presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month, as the party also tries to chip away at Republican support.
“Donald Trump has destroyed the Republican Party,” said Sarah Longwell, executive director of Republican Voters Against Trump, of her group’s latest effort.
“Every election cycle, it drives more and more Republicans to vote for Democrats, because they believe that Donald Trump and the Republican candidates who imitate him are unfit for office,” he added.
The 30-second ad features several former Trump voters talking about why they will support a Democrat in November and some explaining why they believe giving Trump a second term is dangerous.
He is also criticized for his treatment of women and his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6.
Longwell said the effort helps “build a permission structure” for traditional GOP voters to reject the MAGA movement and cast their ballots for a Democrat despite political differences.
At the same time, 79 signs feature former Trump voters from key states. They read: “I am a former Trump voter. I am a Republican. I am voting for Harris.”
The ad buy includes $4.5 million in Pennsylvania, targeting Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia; $3 million in Michigan, including Detroit and Grand Rapids; $2.2 million in Wisconsin, focusing on the Madison and Milwaukee markets; $1.5 million in Phoenix, Arizona; and $375,000 in Nebraska.
Anti-Trump group is putting up nearly 80 billboards with images of former Trump voters in key states
The $11.5 million campaign by Republican voters against Trump is taking place in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.
The effort comes in parallel with Democrats’ own efforts to convince moderate Republicans and independent voters to support Harris.
Experts said whether Republicans vote for Harris or even decide not to vote and stay home rather than vote for Trump could play a role in the margins of such a close race.
Harris’s campaign even recruited Republicans to help.
Last month’s convention in Chicago featured a number of prominent former Trump officials, Republican lawmakers, local leaders and Republican voters who championed the Democratic presidential nominee.
The push to flip to Republicans began while Biden was still campaigning for reelection.
The Biden-Harris campaign was quick to welcome Nikki Haley’s disheartened primary voters as Trump attacked her candidacy earlier this year.
Haley has since announced she would vote for Trump, but that hasn’t stopped Democrats from seeking support from their voters.
In June, the campaign also announced the addition of a full-time National Republican Engagement Director dedicated to outreach.
Last month, she launched Republicans for Harris.