One place you won’t find President Trump? Starring in Republican ads

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President Donald Trump may be omnipresent in American politics, but one place you won’t find him during the midterm elections: starring in Republican TV ads.

A new CNN analysis shows that Trump is a bit player – often seldom mentioned at all – in a blitz of Republican messaging increasingly filling the airwaves in some of the biggest races of the year. Since the start of September, Democrats have been much more likely to invoke Trump’s name than Republicans.

Republican advertisers have aired just 12 TV ads that mention Trump from September 1 to September 15, according to a CNN analysis of AdImpact data, to the tune of about $1 million. Those spots represent a fraction of more than 500 Republican ads produced during that period, totaling more than $160 million.

It’s a striking contrast from Trump’s plea to make the midterm elections all about him, as he repeatedly tells his supporters: “Pretend that I’m on the ballot.” His near absence from GOP advertising underscores the degree to which he has become a political liability, with his national approval rating just 36%, according to CNN’s Poll of Polls .

Republican advisers tell CNN they believe the party’s best hopes of holding a Senate majority is not by touting Trump’s name in TV ads, but by defining Democratic candidates and trying to make them seem unacceptable to voters.

“The president is not the best message or our best messenger at this point,” a veteran Republican ad strategist involved in several midterm races told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid agitating the White House.

The bottom line: GOP candidates and their allies are devoting less than 1% of their ad spending to TV spots specifically mentioning Trump.

Not so for Democrats.

With a wide majority of Americans expressing their disapproval of Trump’s job performance, feelings that are even more pronounced on the economy and the Iran war, the embattled president has become a core figure in the Democratic advertising strategy to win control of the House and Senate.

Democratic advertisers have spent nearly $23 million airing 95 ads during the first half of September that mention the president, according to the CNN analysis, accounting for about one-fifth of their ad spending. The ads are designed to closely tie Republican incumbents or challengers to Trump.

In Michigan, a Democratic super PAC says in an ad about the GOP Senate nominee: “Mike Rogers, all in on the war, all in on Trump.” A similar argument is being made in Maine, with a TV spot pointedly arguing that state’s Republican senator: “Susan Collins does what’s best for Trump.”

After months of questions about whether Trump’s political network would fully invest in the midterm elections, a sprawling coalition of outside groups is now fully engaged and has opened a massive financial spigot. But the ads those groups are producing rarely include Trump.

Even an avalanche of spending by a new super PAC linked to Trump’s political organization – more than $100 million in fall ad buys aimed at reinforcing vulnerable Republicans – has so far failed to mention the president. The focus, instead, is on attacking Democrats.

“There’s something not right about Abdul El-Sayed,” said one of its ads against the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan. El-Sayed is a central fixture of Republican attacks this cycle in his race against Rogers, the former congressman vying again for the Senate.

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“Ohio works for every dollar. Sherrod Brown works to take them away,” said another , regarding the former Democratic senator aiming to return to Washington after his 2024 defeat.

“Roy Cooper. His record is worse than you remember,” said another ad in North Carolina, where the president held a rally Wednesday night in an effort to boost former RNC chairman Michael Whatley in his Senate race against Cooper, the former governor and Democratic Senate nominee.

The new group behind the ads, No Going Back PAC, is linked to MAGA Inc., Trump’s main super PAC, which reported more than $400 million in cash on hand in its most recent FEC reports. That massive stockpile of campaign cash has been the subject of intense scrutiny by Republicans, anxious about allocating resources across a competitive midterms landscape.

No ads have yet been detected that amplify Trump’s call for a $5,000 payout to be made to every American adult if Republicans win the midterms.

And for all of the bold pronouncements the president makes during campaign rallies, including an often-made contention that the American economy is the “hottest in the world,” there are no such claims being amplified in TV ads paid for by his own top political allies.

While most presidents distance themselves from midterm elections to avoid nationalizing the races, Trump is doing the opposite. He’s all in, firing up loyal supporters and fierce critics alike.

But the Republican advertising strategy underscores a far more nuanced conversation underway about the party’s best chances of minimizing the prospect of a Democratic wave in November.

While Republican campaign ads largely avoid explicit mention of Trump, many GOP advertisers have pressed to highlight key policy achievements, particularly related to tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

According to AdImpact data, Republicans have aired more than 200 ads about taxation so far in September, spending more than $70 million – about two-fifths of its ad budget in that stretch.

“We eliminated taxes on tips and overtime and cut taxes on Social Security,” says Rep. Ashley Hinson, the GOP nominee for Senate in Iowa, in one of her ads . In another spot, she points to working “with President Trump to take on health insurance companies” to lower costs but also pledges to work “across the aisle” to get results.

“I fought alongside President Trump to pass the biggest tax cuts for working families in American history,” Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch says in another ad.

Republican candidates are seeking to energize the president’s base without alienating voters frustrated with the country’s direction under full Republican control in Washington.

To be sure, there are some battleground Republicans seeking to buck the trend, banking on the potential upside of embracing the president.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who is locked in one of the most competitive House races in the country against Democratic challenger Cait Conley, ran an ad featuring his work with Trump on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to raise the SALT deduction – a key concern for voters in his district – including clips of Trump praising him at a rally.

Lawler also spoke at the Republican midterm convention in Texas last week despite several of his battleground peers skipping the event. He is among the Republicans who are trying to walk a careful line of supporting the president, while showing independence.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get things done,” Lawler said in the ad that shows the president. “I had to take on the left and the right.”

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唐纳德·特朗普总统在美国政坛可谓无处不在，但在中期选举期间，你绝对不会在共和党的电视广告中看到他的身影。

CNN的一项最新分析显示，在共和党铺天盖地的宣传攻势中，特朗普只是个配角——在一些最重要的选战中，他几乎从未被提及。自9月初以来，民主党人比共和党人更频繁地提及特朗普的名字。

根据 CNN 对 AdImpact 数据的分析，从 9 月 1 日到 9 月 15 日，共和党广告商仅播放了 12 条提及特朗普的电视广告，总花费约为 100 万美元。这些广告仅占同期共和党制作的 500 多条广告的一小部分，这些广告的总花费超过 1.6 亿美元。

这与特朗普呼吁将中期选举变成他个人竞选的策略形成了鲜明对比，他反复告诉他的支持者：“就当我的名字在选票上吧。” 他在共和党广告中几乎销声匿迹，凸显了他已成为政治包袱的程度，根据CNN的民调汇总，他的全国支持率仅为36%。

共和党顾问告诉 CNN，他们认为该党保住参议院多数席位的最佳希望不是在电视广告中大肆宣传特朗普的名字，而是给民主党候选人贴上标签，并试图让他们在选民眼中变得不可接受。

一位参与过多次中期选举的资深共和党广告策略师告诉 CNN：“总统目前并不是最好的信息传递者，也不是我们最好的信息传递者。” 他要求匿名发言，以免激怒白宫。

结论是：共和党候选人及其盟友将不到 1% 的广告支出用于专门提及特朗普的电视广告。

但民主党人则不然。

由于绝大多数美国人对特朗普的执政表现表示不满，尤其是在经济和伊朗战争方面，这种不满情绪更为明显，这位处境艰难的总统已成为民主党赢得众议院和参议院控制权的广告策略中的核心人物。

据CNN分析，民主党广告商在9月上半月花费近2300万美元投放了95条提及总统的广告，约占其广告总支出的五分之一。这些广告旨在将共和党现任议员或挑战者与特朗普紧密联系起来。

在密歇根州，一个民主党超级政治行动委员会在一则关于共和党参议员候选人的广告中说道：“迈克·罗杰斯，全力支持这场战争，全力支持特朗普。”在缅因州，也出现了类似的论调，一则电视广告尖锐地指出该州的共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯：“苏珊·柯林斯所做的一切都是为了特朗普的利益。”

几个月来，外界一直质疑特朗普的政治网络是否会全力投入中期选举，如今，一个庞大的外部团体联盟已全面介入，并投入了巨额资金。但这些团体制作的广告中却很少出现特朗普的身影。

即使是与特朗普政治组织有关联的新超级政治行动委员会投入巨资——在秋季广告投放上花费超过1亿美元，旨在巩固那些处境岌岌可危的共和党人——迄今为止也只字未提总统本人。相反，他们的重点放在攻击民主党人身上。

“阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德这个人有问题，”该党在一则针对密歇根州民主党参议员候选人的广告中如此说道。埃尔-赛义德是共和党在本届选举周期中攻击的重点目标，他的对手是前众议员罗杰斯，后者再次竞选参议员。

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“俄亥俄州的每一分钱都是辛勤劳动所得。谢罗德·布朗却想方设法把钱夺走，”另一位人士这样评价这位前民主党参议员，他计划在2024年败选后重返华盛顿。

“罗伊·库珀。他的记录比你记忆中的还要糟糕，”北卡罗来纳州的另一则广告这样说道。周三晚上，总统在北卡罗来纳州举行集会，试图支持前共和党全国委员会主席迈克尔·沃特利在参议院竞选中击败前州长、民主党参议员候选人库珀。

这些广告背后的新组织“不回头政治行动委员会”（No Going Back PAC）与特朗普的主要超级政治行动委员会“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA Inc.）有关联。后者在最近提交给联邦选举委员会（FEC）的报告中显示，其现金储备超过4亿美元。这笔巨额竞选资金一直受到共和党人的密切关注，他们担心在竞争激烈的中期选举中如何分配资源。

目前尚未发现任何广告宣传特朗普的呼吁，即如果共和党赢得中期选举，将向每位美国成年人支付 5000 美元。

尽管总统在竞选集会上发表了许多大胆的言论，包括经常声称美国经济是“世界上最火热的”，但他自己的主要政治盟友出资投放的电视广告中却没有放大这些说法。

大多数总统为了避免中期选举全国化，都会尽量与中期选举保持距离，但特朗普却反其道而行之。他全力以赴，既激起了忠实支持者的热情，也激起了激烈批评者的怒火。

但共和党的广告策略凸显了一场更为微妙的讨论，这场讨论的焦点在于该党如何才能最大限度地减少11月民主党掀起选举浪潮的可能性。

虽然共和党竞选广告大多避免明确提及特朗普，但许多共和党广告商仍努力突出关键政策成就，特别是与《一项美好法案》中的减税措施相关的成就。

根据 AdImpact 的数据，共和党在 9 月份至今已播出 200 多则有关税收的广告，花费超过 7000 万美元——约占其同期广告预算的五分之二。

“我们取消了小费和加班费的税收，并降低了社会保障税，”爱荷华州共和党参议员候选人阿什利·欣森在她的一则竞选广告中说道。在另一则广告中，她指出将与特朗普总统合作“对抗医疗保险公司”，以降低医疗成本，同时也承诺将“跨党派合作”以取得成效。

“我曾与特朗普总统并肩作战，为美国历史上工薪家庭争取到的最大规模减税，”爱达荷州共和党参议员吉姆·里施在另一则广告中说道。

共和党候选人希望在不疏远那些对共和党完全掌控华盛顿后国家发展方向感到失望的选民的情况下，激发总统的基本盘的热情。

当然，也有一些摇摆州的共和党人试图逆势而行，寄希望于拥抱总统可能带来的好处。

纽约州共和党众议员迈克·劳勒正与民主党挑战者凯特·康利展开全国竞争最激烈的众议院选举之一。他发布了一则广告，重点介绍了自己与特朗普合作制定的《一项美好法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act），该法案旨在提高州和地方税收抵扣额（SALT），这是他所在选区选民关注的一个关键问题。广告中还穿插了特朗普在一次集会上赞扬他的片段。

尽管几位来自关键摇摆州的共和党同僚缺席，劳勒上周还是在德克萨斯州举行的共和党中期选举大会上发表了讲话。他是试图在支持总统和保持独立性之间寻求平衡的共和党人之一。

“为了把事情办成，我会不惜一切代价，”劳勒在广告中说道，广告中还出现了总统的身影。“我必须同时对抗左派和右派。”