Trump GOP Ads: Missing From the Airwaves
The trump gop ads gap keeps widening in the final weeks of the 2026 midterms: President Donald Trump is barnstorming the country for Republican candidates, yet he is nowhere to be found in the party’s own advertising — even in red states where candidates eagerly touted his endorsement two years ago.
A Politico analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks political advertising, found that Democratic House and Senate candidates and outside groups have spent $145 million on general-election ads mentioning Trump, while Republicans have spent just $8 million. The contrast with 2024 is stark: GOP candidates spent $62 million on ads mentioning Trump that cycle.
A Liability on the Airwaves
Some Republican candidates are even hesitant to appear alongside the president on the campaign trail, even as they hope he will energize the MAGA base for November. With an unfavorable national political environment, few candidates see an upside in tying themselves to Trump.
A CNN analysis of the same AdImpact data reached a similar conclusion: from September 1 to September 15, Republicans aired just 12 television ads mentioning Trump, worth about $1 million out of more than $160 million in total Republican TV ad spending — less than one percent. Democrats, by contrast, spent nearly $23 million on 95 TV ads mentioning Trump in the first half of September, about one-fifth of their spending.
Republican advisers say the strategy is deliberate. “Trump is at historic lows right now, so if he comes to your district or state, it’s about getting the Republican base vote out there and that can certainly help,” longtime GOP strategist Ron Bonjean told Politico. “But it’s really important for the candidates not to be talking about Trump 24/7 on the campaign trail.”
Even Red States Go Quiet
The silence is especially noticeable in states Trump carried easily. In 2024, Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska, then facing independent Dan Osborn, and Bernie Moreno of Ohio, then challenging Sherrod Brown, both ran several general-election ads featuring Trump’s endorsement. Trump won Nebraska by more than 20 points and Ohio by 12 points that year.
More Republicans in competitive races have also broken with the president on issues such as the Iran war and tariffs. And when Republicans do mention Trump in ads, they often are not promoting his support: in Alaska, Senator Dan Sullivan has run an ad citing how he “voted to force Trump’s DOJ to release the Epstein files.”
Others have quietly scrubbed Trump from their campaigns altogether. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota removed mentions of the president from his campaign website, Fox News reported — joining a growing list of Republicans putting distance between themselves and the White House as Election Day nears.
Source: Politico