AdImpact is the canonical source that many journalists use to track political ad spending, where ads are running, the ability to see the actual ads and so forth. A few times I’ve considering subscribing for TPM during the peak of the big election cycles. (These are very high-dollar price points.) So I’m on their mailing list for the data overviews that are basically teasers for subscribing. I got one of those today and something immediately jumped out at me. The top political advertiser by spend this cycle is the Department of Homeland Security.
As you can see, the sum is clocking in at $34 million. These services are very valuable because of the quality, the timeliness of their data. But they’re about data. By design and function they aren’t adding perspective or critical analysis. That’s not their job. They sell this data to journalists, ad sellers and campaigns. They know what to do with the data, how to understand it. Thus here you have stated matter of factly what journalists might feel awkward about stating so clearly or might kill with context, for lack of a better phrasing. The top advertiser in this political cycle so far is the Department of Homeland Security running political ads with taxpayer dollars on behalf of Donald Trump.
I don’t have a clear sense of precisely where these ads are running. They’ve been in heavy rotation on local network affiliates in New York City. I don’t watch much TV and almost never broadcast television. But I see it at the gym. And they’ve been on really regular rotation. And they’re straight-up Trump propaganda, political ads — really campaign ads notwithstanding Trump not being up for any election — in a way that is unmistakable. (Here’s one example you can watch at the DHS website.) The rationale here is that the government has some leeway to publicize things the government is doing. The government did spend a lot of money telling people they were eligible to get subsidized health care insurance through Obamacare, for example. It’s also the case that on projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, you’ll often see a sign that says, ‘This project funded by the Inflation Reduction Act’ and some mention of President Biden. But as is the case in so many realms, you have these edge-case customs which Trump takes and just blows right through any limits. The White House is spending substantial amounts of taxpayer funds to run political ads for the President.