Since House Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump on September 24, his campaign and supporters have spent record amounts on Google and Facebook advertisements pushing back against the investigation.
According to data collected by the communications agency Bully Pulpit Interactive, spending on pro-Trump ads on the two social networks increased five-fold between September 21 to October 5 compared to the previous two weeks. The Trump campaign, pro-Trump super-PACs, and other pro-Trump groups spent slightly over $5 million in this period, the most that they’ve spent in any two-week period. The 14 Democratic presidential candidates spent a combined $3.7 million during those two weeks.
Trump’s impeachment spending spree
Since the congressional inquiry began, Trump’s campaign committee and pro-Trump groups have spent over $1.1 million on Facebook ads directly related to impeachment. That’s more than Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has spent on all Facebook and Google ads during the same time. The only Democratic candidate who has been spending significantly on impeachment-focused ads is Tom Steyer, who has spent nearly $214,000.
In one of the Facebook ads paid for by the president’s 2020 campaign committee, Trump calls on his supporters to stop the “fake news witch hunts” and asks them to “stand with Trump.”
