At least since the 1950s, Congress’s funding bills have routinely banned the use of taxpayer funds for “publicity or propaganda.” The Government Accountability Office defines this as stuff that’s “purely partisan” or “self-aggrandizing.”
Now, just weeks ahead of the midterm elections, Trump is using taxpayer funds for ads that are purely partisan and self-aggrandizing.
One declares that “this is the final battle” as Trump walks down a hall, over audio of his warnings against “the deep state,” “warmongers,” “globalists,” “Marxists,” “communists,” and “fascists.” Another shows a montage of photos and videos of Trump, intercut with campaign talking points like “largest tax cuts in history” and “reigniting American manufacturing” over the song “Love Me” by singer-songwriter JMSN. A third features views of Mount Rushmore interspersed with Trump’s speech there for the Fourth of July anniversary.
All end with “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” According to the advertising-tracking company AdImpact, the ads have cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1,700,000 so far.
You don’t have to have a law degree to know these are illegal.
Even Republican officials concede it. “I like the message, but it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters yesterday. Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said, “It’s not even a close question.”
So why is Trump running these ads? Not because he thinks they’ll help Republican candidates. As economist Paul Krugman has noted, Trump is so unpopular that Republicans in close races don’t want to voters to be reminded that Trump is effectively on the ballot.
He’s running these advertisements for himself because Trump is consumed with himself. He knows he’s sinking in the polls and views positive publicity as a potential way to reverse the decline.
They’re also means of soothing his bruised ego. The more he hears and sees testimonials to himself, even if he has to order them, the better he feels. He may even think “Paid by the U.S. Government” in bold letters at the end of the ad signals the ad’s official legitimacy.
Finally, he’s preparing his legacy. He’s losing his power and he’ll soon be a lame duck so naturally his thoughts turn to how he’ll be remembered. Like etching his name on buildings and erecting triumphal arches in his honor, he wants Americans to recall him as a great president.
The problem for Trump is that, as an old ad executive once told me, “no advertisement can save a s—— product.”
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.