Bloomberg to spend $100M on anti-Trump ads in battleground states

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to drop $100 million on anti-Trump ads in key swing states during the 2020 election.

The digital ad campaign will focus on Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, four states Democrats are eager to flip into their column next year, and will run starting Friday through the end of the primary season. The ads will not feature Bloomberg himself.

“Mike isn’t waiting to take on the President, he’s starting now. This is all hands on deck,” Bloomberg spokesman Jason Schechter told The Hill. 

One ad shared with The Hill shows the top of President Trump’s Twitter page with the caption “A TWEET SHOULDN’T THREATEN OUR NATION’S NATIONAL SECURITY,” an apparent reference to the president’s tendency to announce significant changes in foreign policy over social media.

The announcement of the ad campaign comes as Bloomberg takes steps to plunge into the crowded 2020 Democratic primary field, a move that could upheave the party’s presidential nominating contest. The former mayor filed paperwork to appear in the Alabama and Arkansas primaries but did not file paperwork for the crucial New Hampshire primary by the Friday deadline.

The $100 million investment could serve as a counterbalance to Trump’s gargantuan campaign bank account. The president and the Republican National Committee have combined to raise $308 million so far this year and started November with $156 million in cash reserves.

Bloomberg, a centrist who is worth approximately $50 billion, could be on a collision course with former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the leading moderates in the Democratic race, should he officially enter the contest. He could also draw fire from progressives such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who claim that he is trying to buy his way into the election. 

Despite his virtually endless resources, Bloomberg would still face an uphill battle to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination — his competitors have been canvassing and organizing across the country for months, and national polling shows him in the low single digits.

Updated on Nov. 16 at 7:17 a.m.