President Donald Trump has been brutally fact-checked by two of CNN’s biggest stars over his controversial taxpayer-funded ad campaign.
Erin Burnett and Kaitlan Collins highlighted inconsistencies between White House messaging about the advertisements and what the ads actually say.
Trump, 80, is now the subject of three ads airing ahead of the midterm elections. Taxpayer money is being used to air the commercials, which is not permitted for campaign ads.
The White House has insisted they are not political ads, but rather “Presidential public service announcements.”
An official previously told the Daily Beast, “The PSAs are clearly not political. The President is not on the ballot and the ads don’t have a call to action.”
During Monday’s OutFront, Burnett stated clearly, “They actually are campaign ads.”
The host pointed out a 30-second slot that aired on U.S. TV this week that is identical to an ad used in the 2024 Trump presidential campaign.
The only difference is the ad airing in 2026 features the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
“So actually, it was a campaign ad. It is a campaign ad. It is what it is,” Burnett said, raising her arms in a quizzical manner.
She added, “Ethics group and watchdog groups are not necessary to say this, but they are warning that the ads violate the federal appropriations legislation, as in be against the law, including the funding bill that Trump himself actually signed in February, because that law prohibits federal funds from being used on propaganda.”
Burnett also showed footage of Trump walking out during a 2024 campaign, while the black-and-white ad was playing on big screens.
She added, “The words that Trump is saying in the ads are actually word for word from his campaign speeches,” which include, “We liberate America from these villains once and for all.”
“Trump is using these ads, it seems, to fuel the idea that he is on the ballot, right?” Burnett said.
“They’re saying he’s not on the ballot so it doesn’t count, but he wants people to think that he is on the ballot. He thinks that that may be the only way that Republicans don’t lose control of Congress.”
Trump has repeatedly begged voters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
“I think in a court of law, it would be pretty clear that this ad funded by taxpayers, is being used to have people think that Trump is on the ballot so that those people who love him will vote for him, because it’s a campaign ad for Trump. And that is really the plea to his diehard supporters, because that’s who would respond to such an ad. It may not appeal to anyone else.”
The host also questioned if Trump still “knows the difference between reality and falsehood.”
“We do not know what he is truly told and shown about inflation prices, his record low approval ratings, and the deeply unpopular war that has sent American prices even higher prices,” she added.
Speaking on The Source, Collins also called out Trump campaigning for the midterms on the public dime.
Sharing her own thoughts on the 2024 black-and-white ad now being recycled by the Trump administration, Collins said, “If that looks like a campaign ad for the president, rather than the public service announcement that the White House described it as, that might be because a nearly identical ad to that one ran during the president’s last campaign.”
Collins said the fact that the ads state on screen they are paid for by the U.S. Government “is highly unusual, potentially illegal, and they were made despite the president noting often how much campaign cash he has.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
