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President Donald Trump’s campaign responded Monday to Joe Biden’s $50 million ad blitz portraying him as a “convicted felon” ahead of the first presidential debate scheduled for June 27.
The Trump campaign condemned the Biden campaign ad, noting that Americans are supporting the 45th president in a growing number of recent polls.
“Despite Biden’s failing campaign spending nearly $70 million on media buys, President Trump continues to crush Joe Biden in the polls, leading in every key battleground state and winning independents by double digits,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, according to Fox News.
“Crooked Joe Biden is down 20 points with Black voters in Pennsylvania and just needed to be led offstage by Obama in a room full of Hollywood elites. The contrast between President Trump’s strength and success versus Crooked Joe Biden’s weakness, failures, and dishonesty will be made clear on the debate stage next week,” she added.
The new political ad, “Character Matters,” focuses on the guilty verdict against the former president that involved 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to appeal the ruling.
“This election is between a convicted criminal who is only out for himself, and a president who is fighting for your family,” the ad claims, stating that Biden has worked to health care costs and hold large corporations accountable.
The campaign ad comes a week and a half before the first debate between Trump and Biden scheduled to be held on CNN.
The 90-minute event will be hosted by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and is set to include two commercial breaks.
Some of the uncommon requirements of the upcoming debate include muting microphones and not including a live studio audience. Participants will also be banned from using notes, an issue that could pose a major concern for the president, who has been known for his reliance on cheat sheets during previous interviews and press events.
The debate comes after controversial debates between Trump and Biden in 2020, during which candidates frequently talked over one another.
Another controversy involved Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. not meeting the eligibility requirements to participate in the debate.
“All participating debaters must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency and receive at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting,” the network stated.