President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is launching a digital ad that features clips from several Democratic governors praising the President and his administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
The ad comes as Trump and his allies continue to push back against criticism of his leadership ahead of and during the pandemic. Polls show Americans are increasingly concerned about the federal government’s handling of the situation. A Pew Research poll revealed that 65% of respondents feel the President reacted too slowly to the crisis.
This new ad splices together statements from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. In the ad, each governor has something positive to say about Trump himself or the federal government.
Cuomo is featured lauding the work of Trump and his administration.
“His team is on it,” Cuomo said. “I know a team when they are on it, and I know a team when they are not on it. His team is on it.”
The ad begins and ends with Newsom, who at one point looks at the camera and says “So, conversation, commitment, promise made. Promise kept.”
“Promises made, promises kept” is a slogan used by the Trump campaign in their pitch to voters.
“In the fight against the coronavirus, the Trump administration is not just taking a whole of government approach, but a whole of America approach,” said Sarah Matthews, Trump campaign deputy press secretary, in a statement. “Even Democratic governors recognize President Trump’s tireless work to combat the coronavirus and his commitment to protecting all Americans.”
The ad will target swing voters in 17 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, as well as the key swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The five figure ad buy will run on Facebook and YouTube.
Democratic governors have walked a fine line by pushing the federal government for necessary resources and aid while going to great lengths not to anger a President who has a history of seeking retribution against political opponents who have been critical of him.
“Democratic governors will work with anyone to protect their constituents. We wish the President would do the same,” said David Turner, a spokesperson for the Democratic Governors Association. “His failure to deliver on more testing capacity is what is holding the country back from reopening, and yet he cares more about extorting praise for life saving resources than doing his job. More Americans have died in the last few months than all of Vietnam. This is a tragedy, and he should start acting like it.”
Still, several of these governors have not shied away from offering pointed critiques of Trump and the administration.
Cuomo said Trump should stop watching TV and instead should “maybe get up and go back to work”. He also was critical of the administration’s projections and accused Trump and Congress of passing legislation that did not provide enough aid to the states that need it the most.
Murphy pushed back on Trump’s criticism that New Jersey was slow to respond to the crisis. He said that the President’s critique was incorrect: “The facts don’t support that. Period, full stop.”
Grisham has yet to offer any direct criticism of Trump publicly – but lashed out at the President during a private call with governors over a lack of testing supplies.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
