Dump Trumpers Pump Media Bucks Into Debates

The Need to Impeach campaign is making a six-figure TV and digital ad buy to make its case for unseating the President, and will be preaching to the choir to some degree with its placement around the Democratic debates.

The 30-second ad includes footage culled from the recent testimony of former special counsel Robert Mueller before the House Judiciary Committee and will run before and after the debates.

It has bought time on CNN, which is airing the debate(s)--they have to stretch over two nights given the size of the field--and MSNBC, which aired the previous Democratic debates.

The effort to impeach President Donald Trump has benefited media outlets due to the group's deep pockets and passion for the mission. The campaign was founded by billionaire Tom Steyer, who stepped down earlier this month to run for the presidency himself, though he has not met the threshold yet to participate in either night of the debates.

Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, has been pouring money into TV ads calling for the President's impeachment. Need to Impeach has spent about $75 million to date to "raise the voices of people across the country."

And while he has resigned his positions at progressive action group NextGen America and Need to Impeach, Steyer has said he will put $50 million into them through next year "to ensure both organizations fulfill their missions."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.