From inflated crowd numbers and stories about Queen Elizabeth II’s good graces to beauty contests with Kamala Harris and AI endorsements from adoring Swities, it seems the Republican campaign just can’t get enough of itself.
In a move that perhaps recalls one of their top backers having turned Twitter into the world’s largest echo chamber, Trump insiders now claim to have shelled out just under $50,000 to run ads in and around Mar-a-Lago—apparently for the sole purpose of keeping both the presidential candidate and local donors in good spirits.
Though Palm Beach County is largely considered safely Democrat, Florida itself remains securely Republican, with the ads therefore highly unlikely to make much of a difference to the outcome of the election. As one source told The Bulwark, the purchase is “more about keeping the donors happy than the principal,” adding that “if it makes the boss happy, too, then good.”
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The content of the ad itself has not yet been disclosed, though it’s thought to run for around 15 seconds and is slated to soon air on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN and CNBC. This isn’t the first time the GOP has pulled something like this either, with an estimated $400,000 spent on Washington, D.C. cable ads in 2020 as part of a bid to put the then-president at ease over his electoral standing.
Nor was it entirely unexpected this time around, with former Barack Obama spokesperson Kevin Cate having called bets on a Republican investment of exactly this sort about two weeks ago.
Cate’s foresight appears to have been shared by George Conway, a lawyer and former Republican turned stalwart Trump opponent, who Florida Politics reports has spent upward of “six figures” on a 60-second slot across ESPN, Fox News and the Golf Channel to air in exactly the same cherished Florida spot.
Part of his “PsychoPAC” initiative, Conway’s ad apparently features a solid roster of Trump’s greatest hits, such as references to “the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” claims that “windmill noise causes cancer,” struggles with bottled water and touting bleach as a miracle cure for COVID-19.
Whatever the contents of Trump’s forthcoming Mar-a-Lago clip, it’ll be hard pressed to beat Conway’s overarching message for pithiness. As the PsychoPAC website homepage reads: “Voters have forgotten one important fact: Trump is f---ing nuts.”
