By Helen Coster, Dawn Kopecki and Bo Erickson
NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Taxpayer-funded television ads featuring President Donald Trump, including spots celebrating a "golden age of America" and one accompanied by a chorus singing "love me" on repeat, are drawing bipartisan criticism and legal questions five weeks before midterm elections.
The three nationally broadcast ads, ending with the disclaimer "Paid for by the US Government," have prompted ethics experts and lawmakers from Trump's fellow
Republicans and rival Democrats alike to question whether public funds are being used to promote the president politically.
Critics say the campaign may violate longstanding restrictions on government propaganda and political activity, while the White House has defended the spots as "public service announcements" intended to promote patriotism rather than campaign ads.
Running ahead of midterm elections on November 3 that could reshape the balance of power in Washington, the ads tout American exceptionalism.
One includes the president saying “America will never be a communist country” as a chorus sings “love me” in the background. A second combines images of Mount Rushmore with shots of Trump on stage as he praises “the golden age of America.” A third describes “the final battle,” with Trump pledging to demolish the deep state “with you by my side.”
The "final battle" ad is nearly identical to one of Trump's campaign spots from 2024, with the exception of the disclaimer at the end.
The ads have appeared during both “Saturday Night Live” and NFL football games on Sunday.
They are the latest example of Trump flouting longstanding rules meant to prevent presidents from using the office for political gain, said Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush.
"It's not the kind of thing the United States government lawfully can pay for under federal statutes,” he said.
Criticism has also come from prominent members of Trump's own party. “I like the message," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Monday, "but it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”
The White House did not respond to Reuters questions about which government agency is paying for the ads, their cost and the critique that they are an improper use of public money.
On its website last week, where the White House described them as “public service announcements,” it called them "a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending."
'PROPAGANDA'
Washington first banned domestic propaganda in response to the rise of communism in Europe in the 1940s "to make sure the United States doesn't start doing what authoritarian regimes do," said Painter, now a law professor at the University of Minnesota.
"Glorification of the president himself, that's one telltale sign of propaganda," according to Painter, who said he also looks for attacks on political enemies and the absence of a clear policy issue. "Put all that together," he said, and the ads are "clearly propaganda."
The ad campaign likely violates the 1939 Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from engaging in campaign activities at work, according to Painter and other legal experts.
Critics say previous Hatch Act allegations involving Trump's administration resulted in watchdog findings but little accountability, reflecting the challenges of imposing penalties on an uncooperative White House.
"It seems to be a fairly clear-cut violation of legal prohibitions against public money being used for campaign purposes," said David Hopkins, an associate professor of political science at Boston College.
It was unclear why the administration would use public funds for the campaign in an election cycle where Republicans have a clear fundraising advantage.
Republican-aligned groups have reserved at least $888 million in advertising over the coming weeks, compared to at least $666 million for Democrats, according to AdImpact, which tracks political advertising.
“You can’t spend public money to promote yourself,” Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana said on "CBS Sunday."
“Never take another Republican seriously when they pretend they care about 'waste, fraud and abuse,'" Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote on X.
Charlie Black, a Republican political strategist who has worked on multiple presidential campaigns, said Trump's insistence on putting himself front and center could backfire on his party.
History shows "if a president is unpopular, the more visible they are, the worse the party does," Black said. "He might beat the odds, and defy history, but I doubt it."
(Reporting by Helen Coster and Dawn Kopecki in New York and Bo Erickson in Washington. Additional reporting by David Morgan in Washington; Editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and Howard Goller)
