BIG MONEY
Tom Steyer Pours Millions Into Pro-Impeachment Ads Across Early Primary States
The billionaire’s new ad push comes as Democratic lawmakers grapple with calls for impeaching President Trump.
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Tom Steyer, the billionaire philanthropist who has amassed an enormous email list of over 6.5 million people with his Need to Impeach campaign, has committed an additional $6 million to a new national ad focused on impeaching President Trump, The Daily Beast learned on Friday.
That sum total will go to a national cable buy and broadcast advertising in early presidential primary states like Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina along with a digital campaign that will stretch over the next month.
Approximately $2.5 million will be devoted for television and $3.5 million will go towards the digital effort. The ad will begin running on Saturday, just days before Steyer makes a trip to Iowa for his “Five Rights” tour—all while he mulls a possible 2020 presidential run.
With the ad buy, Steyer’s focus remains on “getting Donald Trump out of the White House,” Need to Impeach strategist Kevin Mack told The Daily Beast. “We’d like to have that happen through impeachment but if we have to we’ll beat him at the ballot box in 2020,” he added when asked about Steyer’s future plans.
The news comes as freshman Democratic Congresswoman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said on Thursday evening that “we’re gonna go in there and impeach the motherfucker,” a remark that irked some Democratic members.
Newly elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that “I don’t like that language, I wouldn’t use that language, but I wouldn’t establish language standards for my colleagues.” She pushed back on the desire for impeachment but defended Tlaib by saying that her remarks were “nothing worse than the president has said.”
Steyer has been the most vocal Democratic activist for impeachment and at times has targeted sitting members for not being forceful enough in their opposition to the president. In November, Steyer began running ads encouraging constituents to put pressure on the newly elected Democratic House majority to vote for impeachment.
“You gave Democrats the power to hold him in check,” the billionaire said in the ad. “A majority vote in the House can impeach him and expose his lawless behavior for all to see. They just need the will.”