Trump campaign set to launch digital ads during Democratic convention

A mobile billboard, displaying an advertisement for President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, drives around outside the Climate Crisis Summit at Drake University on November 9, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign will spend millions of dollars on a digital ad campaign during the Democratic presidential convention next week, said a Trump campaign spokesman.

The Democratic National Convention begins on Monday and ends on Thursday, with former Vice President Joe Biden formally accepting the party’s presidential nomination.

Tim Murtaugh, Trump Campaign spokesman, said the price of the virtual ads could amount to more than $10 million with the expenditure definitely being somewhere in the high-seven figures.

The Trump campaign will be everywhere – virtually – during the Dem convention next week.

Centerpiece of massive digital buy is the takeover of YouTube masthead for 4 days.

Online viewers will know the radical leftist takeover of Joe Biden is complete.https://t.co/dlhl1E4XtB

— Tim Murtaugh – Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) August 15, 2020

As initially reported by the New York Times, the Trump campaign intends to run an ad that will takeover the YouTube banner for 96 hours beginning on Tuesday. It will also feature ads on the websites of major U.S. news outlets, Murtaugh said.

Digital ads have made up only a small portion of overall cost of advertisements for Trump’s and Biden’s campaigns, but the Trump campaign’s ad purchases are substantial when compared to each side’s recent spending habits.

Biden spent $14.8 million for television and radio ads in the week of Aug. 8-14, while Trump spent $7 million, according to Advertising Analytics, an ad tracking firm.

According to Fortune, Trump pumped $66 million of his own money into his campaign back in 2016. At that time, his campaign revealed that he had sold his entire stock portfolio. In total, he raised $339 million and spent $322 million – a far cry from the $565 million spent by Hillary Clinton.

In addition to the advertising costs of his previous campaign, his second largest expense was air travel that amounted to $26 million and accounted for more campaign spending than his payroll.

YUGE –> The Trump campaign is launching an aggressive 4 day digital advertising campaign that will take over some of the internet’s most conspicuous real estate during the 3 marquee days of the DNC, which most viewers will watch onlinehttps://t.co/kSsOS041fe

— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) August 15, 2020

The 2020 Democratic convention will present an online and televised lineup of notable politicians, an array of popular entertainers, as well as average Americans, all vouching for Biden.

The in-person Democratic convention celebration that was scheduled to take place in Milwaukee was canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden plans to address Americans from his home state of Delaware.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!