President Donald Trump's reelection campaign responded to the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry in Congress by launching a massive Facebook ad blitz, spending as much as $2.2 million on thousands of ads designed to reach voters in every state.
The online battery included misleading messages about the "socialist squad," Trump's epithet for the four congresswomen of color whom he previously directed to "go back" to their home countries, even though they are all American citizens.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photo / Getty Images
The ads falsely accused the freshman lawmakers of making "pro-terrorist remarks," which they have not done, and pressed supporters to join Trump's "official impeachment defense fund," which he has also promoted in fundraising appeals sent by email and text message. The squad refers to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, none of whom was mentioned by name.
In total, the Trump campaign and its backers spent between $550,583 and $2,271,218 on more than 2,000 ads for its Facebook page from Monday to midday Friday, according to data analyzed by Laura Edelson, a researcher at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. She obtained the data through Facebook's public ad archive, which reports all of its data in ranges, not precise figures. Those ads had been viewed between 13.3 million and 25.3 million times, the NYU analysis found.
On Tuesday and Wednesday alone, the campaign shelled out roughly $794,031 on Facebook ads, according to figures tallied by ACRONYM, a digital outfit focused on progressive causes. On Wednesday alone, it spent roughly $555,000, an amount it typically spends in a week.
The online offensive offered a window into Trump's bare-knuckle approach to the coming impeachment battles, as he took the showdown to his favoured terrain - the internet. Already, campaign officials say they have filled their coffers with contributions: Eric Trump, the president's second son and the executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, said the campaign had raised $8.5 million in the previous 24 hours.
Eric Trump. Photo / Getty Images
The Facebook ads, which traffic in claims found to be false by The Washington Post Fact Checker, also provided a new test for the technology giant after it reaffirmed this week it would exempt speech by politicians from fact checking. That exemption, company executives said, also applies to ads, though sponsored posts are required to meet community standards that proscribe threats as well as "content aimed at deliberately deceiving people to gain an unfair advantage or deprive another of money, property, or legal right."
Facebook said none of the ads violated its policies, including those that prohibit dehumanising speech, though the company did not detail its reasoning. A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
As Trump flooded social media with impeachment-related advertising, would-be challengers competing for the Democratic nomination moved gingerly on the platforms. While it appeared that every single one of the hundreds of ads placed by Trump's campaign used the word "impeachment," not a single ad placed by Joe Biden, the former vice president, used the word. Biden said this week he would favor impeachment proceedings if the White House tried to thwart congressional oversight activities.
Elizabeth Warren. Photo / Getty Images
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, both of whom had previously called for the president's impeachment, each ran ads on the topic, but far fewer than the general fundraising appeals they released that made no mention of the president.
In ads targeting mainly women, Warren asked users to sign a petition calling for impeachment proceedings to begin. Harris asked users, mainly in California, to sign a card thanking Nancy Pelosi, "for showing the leadership the White House lacks by beginning an impeachment inquiry."
Biden, who became the subject of a July conversation between Trump and the president of Ukraine, placed new ads condemning the president for soliciting help from a foreign leader to smear him. But he stopped short of mentioning impeachment.
In addition to the individual candidates, the national party committees also produced dueling advertising on the topic, with the Democratic National Committee asking users to donate to show their support for an impeachment inquiry and the Republican National Committee asking users to "stand against impeachment." The GOP's ads appeared to target in particular a swath of states in the Midwest, as well as New York, Pennsylvania and Maine.
The RNC it planned to spend $15 million across television and digital platforms assailing Democrats for beginning an impeachment inquiry.
For months, Facebook spending on impeachment has been dominated by Tom Steyer, the investor turned impeachment activist, and his super PAC, Need to Impeach. Warren has been next in line, spending about $34,000 on the issue between Aug. 31 and Sept. 21, according to data compiled by Bully Pulpit Interactive, a Democratic communications agency.
