Donald Trump is poised to ride $25 million of new advertising in the final days of the campaign, an enormous and unexpected boost that could bring him closer to parity with Hillary Clinton on television.
Two outside groups bankrolled heavily by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson will spend for the Republican nominee and allow him to go close to dollar-for-dollar with the Democrats. Together, the super PAC Future 45 and its affiliated nonprofit, 45 Committee, will part with $25 million, according to group president Brian Baker, who called it “one of the biggest political efforts launched in the final week of a presidential campaign ever.”
That effort includes about a dozen new ads, some of which are designed for platforms like Snapchat while others are intended for audiences such as Spanish speakers or millennials. One spot Thursday features a woman impersonating Hillary Clinton repeatedly smashing phones and computers with hammers and drills, a reference to her email controversy.
Despite their fundraising success in September, the two companion groups have spent very little in recent weeks. Before the late influx of cash and advertising, Trump and his committees were on pace to spend $20 million less in the final week than are Clinton and hers.
Both Clinton, Trump and their outside groups are drastically ratcheting up their television purchases for the final days of the campaign. Clinton and her groups are slated to spend about $53.5 million while Trump and his groups were slated to air $30.5 million worth of ads.
All told, advertising this week on the presidential race is now likely to clear the $100 million mark by Tuesday — as of late Thursday, more than $92 million is scheduled for the final days.
Both campaigns are spending a disproportionate amount of their money on Florida, with Clinton adding $5 million in additional airtime Wednesday to the state. The Republican National Committee also recently began spending money for television on his behalf in some blue states, such as New Mexico.