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Outgoing Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has attacked President Donald Trump over a series of “ominous” taxpayer-funded TV spots ahead of the midterms in which he appears prominently.
The ad to which Massie particularly objected was one of three to have aired so far and featured black-and-white footage of the president marching down a corridor looking stern as audio from a rally speech blares: “This is the final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government.”
Hitting back on X, the congressman – who led the fight for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and recently attempted to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – wrote: “Don’t worry, using taxpayer dollars to run ominous campaign ads of the President has been done before and is completely legal… in banana republics.”
In a follow-up post reacting to the same clip, Massie added: “So much for DOGE. This is the kind of waste, fraud, and abuse they were originally supposed to go after.”
According to The Daily Beast, the advert is a rehash of one aired in 2024, with the only addition being a disclaimer at the end reading: “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
The other two spots compile a number of Trump attacks on democratic socialism and recycle patriotic marks he made in his Fourth of July speech this year promising “the beginning of the golden age of America” over aerial footage of Mount Rushmore as the sun sets.
Responding to the criticism, a White House spokesperson said: “These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.
“The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”
Another official added: “The PSAs are clearly not political. The president is not on the ballot and the ads don’t have a call to action.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also posted on X Sunday: “Don’t let the Fake News get away with their lies about our epic Public Service Announcements that have been running on TV.”
The Independent has reached out to the White House for further comment.
While Trump will not be on the ballot when the nation goes to the polls on November 3, he has repeatedly asked voters to pretend that he is, placing all of the Republican Party’s chips on his own performance in the Oval Office, rather than on the strengths of individual candidates.
The strategy threatens to backfire given his low approval ratings and widespread discontent over the Iran war and the affordability crisis, potentially handing rival Democrats control of the House and Representatives and perhaps even the Senate.
Also attacking the ads was George Conway, former husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and Democratic congressional candidate, who wrote on X: “Our tax dollars are being spent to indulge the fantasies and to soothe the fragile ego of a narcissistic sociopath who is falling deeper and deeper into psychosis.”
Former White House ethics lawyer Richard W Painter said on the same platform: “This could be an impeachable offense. [The president] has no right to use taxpayer money for campaign ads.
“Congress has expressly prohibited government sponsored political propaganda, which is dangerous for democracy.”
Former White House special counsel for ethics Norm Eisen meanwhile told The New York Times: “The president and his administration have gone from breaking the law to trampling it.
“The prior ad was bad enough, but this one openly repurposes prior political conduct.”
