US President Joe Biden's campaign will target Republican challenger Donald Trump's felony conviction in a $50 million ad campaign ahead of the first presidential debate between the two candidates on June 27, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
It's one of the campaign's biggest ad spends so far and marks a major shift in Biden's approach to Trump's impeachment after the president's initial reluctance to rule on the issue to avoid getting involved in the former's legal troubles American president.
"Reputation matters" is the name of a 30-second ad that says "this election is between a convicted felon who fights for himself and a president who fights for your family,", contrasting the two candidates. The video will air in all key states, as well as in those where Republicans and Democrats traded seats in the last election.
On May 30, Trump was found guilty by a New York jury on 34 counts of falsifying business documents.
"Rogue Joe Biden and the Democrats" used the justice system as a weapon against President Trump and this new ad proves once again that the fake trial was always intended to interfere with the election, but Americans can figure it out," wrote on the social network "X". a spokesman for the Trump campaign.
Biden and Trump remain tied in polls less than five months before the election, but Trump has the edge in key states that will decide the election. On economic issues like inflation, Trump gets higher ratings overall than Biden among voters.
Biden's campaign staff and several Democrats initially did not want to emphasize Trump's guilty plea, taking a wait-and-see approach with ads and new strategies. They wanted to see the results of polls and voter feedback before reacting more strongly.
Earlier this month, during a fundraiser with a small group of donors in Greenwich, Connecticut, Biden first called Trump a "convicted felon" and said his predecessor would be a major threat to the US if he won another term.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted shortly after Trump's guilty plea found that 10 percent of Republican voters said they were less likely to vote for Trump in November, a significant number considering the small difference that decides the US presidential election.
Trump also faces criminal charges in three other cases - a case of attempted interference in the state of Georgia, a case of improper storage of classified documents in the state of Florida and a federal case of attempted interference in the election. He also appealed the results of his civil cases.
This month, Hunter, President Biden's son, also went on trial for lying about illegal drug use in a gun purchase, making him the first direct descendant of a sitting US president to be tried for a crime . Polls, including one by Reuters/Ipsos, show a large majority of voters think the Hunter lawsuit will not affect their vote in the Nov. 5 election.
The June 27 Biden-Trump debate, billed as one of the most significant events on this year's campaign calendar, is less than two weeks away, and the two staffs are preparing for the first clash.
It will include two commercial breaks and there will be no microphone blackouts except when a candidate is ineligible to speak by order, CNN, which will host the debate in Atlanta, said Saturday.
In April, Biden's campaign fell behind Trump's for the first time as the former US president stepped up his cooperation with the Republican National Committee and participated in high-value fundraising events.
Democrats still maintained an overall cash advantage over Trump, and Biden's campaign continues to have significantly more donations. On Saturday, Biden raised $30 million during a charity concert in Los Angeles.