The Democratic National Committee sued President Trump and his administration Wednesday over the taxpayer-funded campaign-style ads they have been running ahead of the November midterm elections.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia, says that the ads are “a blatant violation of the statutory ban on the use of appropriations for ‘publicity or propaganda purposes.’”
The suit says that Trump has, by his own words, sought to place himself at the center of the midterm elections, telling voters to pretend that he is on the ballot. At the same time, he has struggled to overcome low poll numbers.
“In response, President Trump and his allies have searched for ways to promote his perceived achievements, restore some measure of popular approval for his Administration, and save Republicans from overwhelming defeat in the midterm election,” the court filing says. It adds: “The propaganda ads are an attempt to aggrandize the President and to portray the President and the Republican Party in a beneficial light. They also echo campaign themes presented by the Republican Party at the Midterm Convention and in other contexts. The partisan aim of the propaganda ads is beyond question.”
The Democratic group further alleges that it has been harmed by the public funding of the ads. “The Trump Administration’s illegal use of taxpayer dollars for campaign-style advertisements deprives the DNC of a fair electoral process by adding public funds to the resources available to support Republican candidates,” the lawsuit says. “The use of public funds also places the DNC and Democratic candidates at an electoral disadvantage, even though the publicly funded propaganda advertisements are deeply unpopular with American voters, by preserving funds held by campaign committees and PACs—including MAGA Inc.—for other political expenditures.”
In the face of a bipartisan backlash to the public funding of these ads, Trump said Monday that he or his MAGA Inc. super PAC would pay for the ads going forward. The White House reportedly confirmed, though, that Trump will not reimburse the government for that more than $10 million that had already been spent airing the ads.
The DNC suit says that, even after Trump’s announcement, ads have continued to run with the notice that they are "Paid for by the U.S. Government."
The Democrats are seeking to have the court declare that Trump and his administration acted unlawfully and block them from continuing to use funds appropriated by Congress to develop and air the ads.