With the first debate of the Republican primary season just days away, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign announced it will spend $25 million on ads in key swing states to draw a contrast with the GOP agenda.

"As Republicans head to the debate stage in Milwaukee, we are going to see some of the most out of touch tone-deaf positions on everything from a national abortion ban to tax cuts for the ultra-rich," Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz told Spectrum News. "We think across the board, whether it's on the debate stage or on Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night, you are going to be seeing the most extreme and out of touch platform for any Republican slate in history."


What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign announced it will spend $25 million on ads in key swing states to draw a contrast with the GOP agenda

  • The campaign also said the ads will air during the NFL's opening weekend and baseball’s World Series

  • The ad buy will target voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — including Milwaukee, the site of the first Republican National Committee debate on Wednesday

  • The ads will air over the next 16 weeks on television and digital platforms like YouTube and Instagram with a specific focus on President Biden’s manufacturing policies and appeals to Black and Hispanic voters

The ads will air over the next 16 weeks on television and digital platforms like YouTube and Instagram with a specific focus on President Biden’s manufacturing policies and appeals to Black and Hispanic voters. The campaign also said the ads will air during the NFL's opening weekend and baseball’s World Series.

“Every action, every policy for Joe Biden is about ‘who.’ And since he’s taken office, unemployment in our community has been cut and half,” a narrator says in an ad targeted at Hispanic voters, highlighting Biden’s economic agenda and cuts to insulin costs. “The ‘who’ President Joe Biden is fighting for isn’t the rich and powerful, it’s us.”

The ad buy, billed as “the largest overall buy for a reelection campaign at this point in time ever” by Biden’s campaign, will target voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — including Milwaukee, the site of the first Republican National Committee debate on Wednesday and where Republicans will host their nominating convention next summer.

The campaign will also air targeted ads in Florida aiming to woo Hispanic voters in the state.

"With one of our first buys of the reelection campaign, we're making the largest ever investment in Black and Hispanic media," Munoz said. "That's going to mean that we are diving deeper into communities going to places that they trust, while also targeting more traditional digital outlets like YouTube and Hulu, where you might not be looking for a political message."

Another ad, titled “Fought Back,” spends a full minute weaving a narrative about Biden’s role in the country’s economic recovery after the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s part of Democrats’ push to reframe the discussion about the economy in light of Biden’s low poll numbers when it comes to his handling of the economy.

“It was the worst pandemic. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. But America fought back,” a narrator says. “Joe Biden passed historic laws to rebuild the country, but he knows that it’s the American people who are the heroes of this story.”

The ad heralds record-low unemployment and rattles off a list of investments the Biden administration and Congress have made in “small towns and big cities,” including manufacturing industries, computer chips, and clean energy technologies.

“There are some who say America is failing. Not Joe Biden,” a narrator reads over a clip of former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s 2024 frontrunner. “He believes our best days are ahead because he believes in the American people.”

Biden’s campaign said the ad is designed to contrast “Biden’s optimistic vision of America, and MAGA Republicans’ dark and divisive picture of our nation.”

"Americans are going to face a choice in November 2024, between a president that has delivered on lower health care costs, lower gas costs, historic investments in our roads and bridges, or a MAGA candidate that is focused on dividing the country and not really delivering any progress," Munoz said. "We absolutely do have to do the work to have everyday people understand just how this president is delivering for them. That takes time. It's August 2023. And the fact that we're investing this early sends a sign that we know we have to take this seriously."

In a pair of recent polls, Biden’s approval rating on his handling of the economy was in the mid-30s. In an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released last week, his numbers were poor even among Democrats -- 65%. In a CNN poll earlier this month, 52% of Americans said they think the economy is getting worse, with 37% approving of Biden’s economic performance and 30% in favor of his handling of inflation. Just 26% of independents told CNN pollsters they approved of his work to address inflation.

"We've seen time and time again, whether it be in the 2022 midterms or all of the down ballot races this year, that voters Americans are not voting on these culture war issues," Munoz said. "They're focused on kitchen table issues, whether that be lower health care costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, or fighting back against abortion."

Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee are slated to hold a press conference in Milwaukee ahead of the debate on Wednesday, “where America will be introduced to the most extreme slate of candidates in history,” the campaign said in a statement.

DNC chair Jamie Harrison, Biden-Harris campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, Madison, Wis., Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway, and Wisconsin’s Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler are expected to speak.

“As Republicans head to the debate stage next week to put on display their extreme and out-of-touch positions, we are investing in reaching Americans across the country with President Biden and Vice President Harris’ message for the middle class and for Americans’ fundamental freedoms,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, in a statement. “While Republicans duke it out in Milwaukee over their divisive and unpopular agenda, President Biden is amplifying his winning message and leadership as a president for all Americans.”