Biden will double Trump’s spending on television ads by Election Day, according to a report from Yahoo, citing data from the firm Advertising Analytics. The firm estimates that both campaigns will spend a combined total of between $2.75 billion and $2.8 billion by November 3.
Advertising Analytics Vice President John Link told Yahoo that the Trump campaign’s “overall spend on a weekly basis is being reduced” in several critical battleground states. In Ohio, which polls show statistically deadlocked between the candidates, Trump spent only $302,000 out of the $7.8 million that the campaign had planned for the state, according to the outlet.
While Trump is reducing spending, the Biden campaign is ramping up spending on network ads, which Link called “the strongest vehicle for impactful ad messaging” because it is a way to reach undecided voters. In addition to traditional swing states, Biden is spending in states like Georgia, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since former President Bill Clinton won the state in 1992.
Both candidates have recently spent the most on ads in Florida, a state that many political observers believe Trump will need to win to have a realistic chance of retaining the presidency. However, the Biden campaign has been able to spend significantly more because it has dwarfed the Trump campaign in terms of available cash.
Advertising Analytics data shows that Biden spent $53 million on ads in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, compared to $17 for Trump, according to a report from The New York Times. The paper says that 80 percent of Trump’s ads were negative, with 62 percent being “all out attacks” on Biden. Negative ads were used by the Biden campaign 60 percent of the time, with just 7 percent said to be “outright negative.”
“Television ads are a small piece of the voter outreach puzzle and the Trump campaign has perfected the art of utilizing them in the most strategic, surgical way possible,” Samantha Zager, deputy press secretary for the Trump campaign, told the Times. “It makes no sense to run TV ads in states we know we’re going to win, and in other states, they’re a useful tool to reach the right voters with the right message.”
While not matching Biden in advertising dollars, Trump has focused instead on in-person campaigning. After recovering from COVID-19, the president has held large, daily campaign rallies across the country, often with attendees showing little regard for wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.
Trump believes the events will be key in delivering him another victory in defiance of the polls and predictions, enthusiastically describing the rallies as “BOFFO” and recently remarking that he would like to ramp up his remaining in-person campaigning to include up to five rallies per day.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment.
