Democrats seek probe into government ads featuring Trump: “pre-election propaganda with taxpayers’ money”

Democratic Congressmen Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and George Whitesides on Thursday asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for independent investigations into taxpayer-funded television ads featuring President Donald Trump, which are airing just a few weeks before November’s midterm elections, as Reuters reports.

According to the Democratic lawmakers, the White House transferred $20 million in Department of Homeland Security funds to air the ads — three national ads celebrating an “American golden age”, airing five weeks before the elections.

In their letter to the two institutions, Raskin and Whitesides wrote that the ads “amount to an unlawful use of taxpayer funds… virtually identical to those Donald Trump used during the 2024 campaign, with the same footage and the same inept ideological messaging”, calling them “desperate pre-election propaganda”.

One ad shows Trump declaring that “America will never be a communist country”, as a chorus repeats “love me”; another combines images of Mount Rushmore with Trump praising “America’s golden age”; the third speaks of a “final battle” against the “deep state” and closely resembles a 2024 campaign ad. All the ads close with the notice that they were paid for by the U.S. government.

President Trump defended the ads on Wednesday: “I’m not running for anything. If someone says it’s wrong, I’ll gladly pay the money. But these are ads for the country… I’m not promoting any candidate, I’m not promoting myself.”

Critics say the ads may breach long-standing bans on government propaganda and political activity. The group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, while FCC chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, said on Wednesday that the ads were appropriate.