The Stop Trump campaign blew at least $75 million failing to stop Donald Trump
Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus has declared Donald Trump the "presumptive GOP nominee" and is trying to rally his party around the hashtag #NeverHillary. But the Republicans resolutely opposed to Trump are sticking with #NeverTrump, and they have vowed to keep on keeping on, even though they just lost their last real shot to deprive Trump of the nomination. You can argue that their tactics were ineffective, but nobody can say they didn't try. In total, CNN's Gregory Wallace reports, Republicans ran more than $70 million in broadcast television ads during the campaign, or 64,000 different ads.
In his victory speech on Tuesday night, Trump criticized the steady stream of #NeverTrump ads in Indiana, saying he asked his advisers, "how can anyone endure this?" (Of course, since it was a victory speech, Trump was answering his own question.) The $75.7 million in TV ad spending, as counted by Kantar Media/CMAG, includes all ads run against Trump during the campaign, by all the candidates and their super PACs; Marco Rubio's supporters at Conservative Solutions PAC spent the most, some $19.7 million, followed by pro-Jeb! group Right to Rise, at nearly $10 million.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for January 28Cartoons Wednesday's political cartoons include slipping in the polls, Kristi Noem in trouble, and ICE in the classroom
-
The Week contest: How now, smart cow?Puzzles and Quizzes
-
The UK’s supposed Christian revivalThe Explainer Research has shown that claims of increased church attendance, particularly among young people, ‘may be misleading’
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
