A political advocacy group run by Rebekah Mercer, a key financier of and adviser to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, has reportedly launched a $1.3 million advertising blitz in 10 states in which Democratic senators face re-election in 2018.
Bloomberg reported on the investment Wednesday. The group, Making America Great, will also run ads in Washington, D.C., in addition to West Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, North Dakota, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Montana and Pennsylvania, according to the report. All ten states voted for Trump in 2016.
Mercer is the daughter of Robert Mercer, the hedge fund billionaire with significant financial ties to Breitbart News, as well as Cambridge Analytica, the data analysis company whose social media targeting has played a prominent role in post-mortem election analyses.
The Mercers also reportedly recommended that Trump hire two of their close advisers, Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, to lead his campaign after Paul Manafort’s resignation.
The ad spending will be split into $300,000 for internet advertising and $1 million for television ads, Bloomberg reported. One such ad is posted on YouTube, featuring sleek graphics with blocks of text rushing on and off-screen:
“RESULTS. NOT COMMON IN WASHINGTON, D.C. 298,000 NEW JOBS 1ST MONTH IN OFFICE. REDUCING EPA REGULATIONS. GREENLIGHTING KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE. WITHDREW FROM Trans-Pacific Partnership. AND IT’S ONLY JUST BEGUN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT TOGETHER.”
A third Mercer-confidant-turned-Trump-campaign-hire, David Bossie, is now Making America Great’s chief strategist. He told Bloomberg the group has “the full support of the White House.”
“Over the last couple weeks, we’ve aggressively tried to launch Making America Great,” he said, according to the publication. “We have the full support of the White House, and our effort is proud to be stepping up to help President Trump move his agenda forward.”
