A pair of pro-Trump super PACs have already spent $1 million on the 2020 presidential election

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last updated 5 May 2017

President Trump is only a few months into his first term, but pro-Trump super PACs are already planning for his second. A review of federal campaign spending records by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity found that a pair of super PACs that back the president have already spent more than $1 million to help Trump's chances in the 2020 presidential election.

The groups, Great America PAC and Committee to Defend the President, have spent the cash on "a variety of pro-Trump communications and related items ranging from TV, radio, and digital advertisements to robocalls and direct mail to renting the email addresses of prospective supports and donors," the Center for Public Integrity's Dave Levinthal reported, citing FEC records. Levinthal noted that this amount of spending so early in the game is "unprecedented in U.S. election history."

A spokesman for Democratic advocacy group American Bridge 21st Century hypothesized that the high rate of spending is intended to assuage Trump supporters who are worried after his rocky first days in office. But Ted Harvey, chairman of the Committee to Defend the President, insisted his group's spending was simply saving supporters from sifting "through the dishonest media and national Democrats' attacks."