President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has launched a hard-hitting new advertisement that social media users believe Donald Trump would prefer to keep under wraps. The ad, part of a $50 million campaign in battleground states, is titled “Character Matters” and marks the campaign’s first direct reference to Trump’s legal troubles since his conviction for falsifying business records in a New York criminal trial last month.
“In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is,” the voiceover states as black-and-white images of Trump in court are displayed, according to TIME magazine. “He’s been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault, and committed financial fraud.” The commercial concludes by framing the election as a clear choice “between a convicted criminal who’s only out for himself and a president who’s fighting for your family.”
Social media reactions have been strong. One user on X, formerly Twitter, exclaimed, “This is the ad Trump does not want you to see!!!!!” Another praised the ad, saying, “Let’s go! This is exactly the kind of ad I’ve been waiting for Dems to run.” A third user commented, “Hot dam Joe can throw a punch!” Meanwhile, another argued, “This is the way. It’s time to stop equivocating. These candidates are not the same. One is a convicted criminal and the other is a lifelong patriot to the United States. I choose President Biden.”
Karoline Leavitt, a representative for the Trump campaign, criticized the Biden campaign’s tactics, calling them a political maneuver. “Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats have weaponized the justice system against President Trump,” Leavitt wrote on social media on June 17, condemning both the criminal case and the advertisement. An Ipsos survey conducted shortly after Trump’s conviction revealed that 10% of Republican voters were less inclined to vote for him in November, a small but noteworthy percentage, Reuters reported.
The ad campaign aligns with a broader Democratic strategy to highlight Trump’s legal issues to voters. Several current and former Congress members and state elected officials have urged Biden to capitalize on Trump’s conviction. Earlier this month, at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut, Biden for the first time referred to Trump as a “convicted felon.”
For many Democrats, this direct attack on Trump’s felonies is seen as a positive development. Political analysts believe that the Biden campaign’s focus on Trump’s legal troubles is a strategic move to sway undecided voters. “It’s great to see the campaign leaning into ‘The Choice’…and fighting to make this critical month of June, when so many people are beginning to tune into the election,” longtime Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg wrote on his blog in response to the ad.