Conservative group spends $1M attacking Trump
Club for Growth is launching $1 million in attack ads against frontrunner Donald Trump in Iowa. "Trump is just playing the voters for chumps," one of the ads says, noting his liberal positions over the years.
The national conservative advocacy group Club for Growth announced a $1 million Iowa television ad campaign against Donald Trump Tuesday, the most direct and expensive assault from inside the Republican Party aimed at knocking down its presidential frontrunner.
Club for Growth President David McIntosh unveiled two ads; one accuses Trump of being a closet liberal, flashing pictures of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "He's playing us for chumps," a narrator says. The other accuses Trump of backing "eminent domain abuse."
The 30-second spots, produced and paid for by Club for Growth Action, the group's super PAC, are slated for broadcast, cable, satellite TV and digital platforms in Iowa beginning later this week.
"Donald Trump is the worst Republican candidate on economic issues," McIntosh said. "It's astonishing that he's even running as a Republican. Trump is the most liberal candidate on fiscal policy in the whole field, with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders. His angry style may reflect the deep frustration Americans have with Washington leaders who have failed to keep their promises. But the policies he'd implement would benefit himself and his own interests, not the American people. That makes him the worst kind of politician."
The eminent domain issue refers to Trump's support of the Kelo decision of the Supreme Court several years ago that authorized government to seize private property to make way for private development projects. Many on the right see it as a license to trample people's property-ownership rights.
The ads were released a day before the GOP candidates meet for the second televised debate of the primary season, in Simi Valley, Calif., to be broadcast on CNN. Trump has surged into the lead of the Republican race – which has alarmed many of the party's leaders and some of its constituent groups.Club for Growth, which has itself been at odds with the GOP establishment over the years, advocates for lower taxes and less regulation. It is known for financing primary challengers to more moderate Republicans who do not share its free-market views.
Trump says Club for Growth is attacking him because he refused to write them a $1 million check after a meeting with him earlier this year. Club for Growth officials say Trump's minions requested the meeting.