Discussion · Senate
Margaret Wood Hassan Democrat
“I want the White House to stop using tax money to pay for television ads. These are political campaign ads for the President, not public service messages. Republicans blocked my resolution to stop this spending, but the President should still stop using our money for his political ads.”
“Mr. President, it is really disappointing that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have blocked a resolution that simply says these plainly political television ads should not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. One of the ads is literally one of the President’s campaign ads from 2024. It is clearly a campaign message, but he is making all of us pay for it at a time when he has sent grocery costs, rent costs, and gas costs soaring. Any American who watches this ad can see that it is not a PSA like the White House claims. What is the public service message here? People know the difference between a PSA and a political ad. Moreover, if we are going to talk about which side of the aisle is supporting communism and socialism, it is this President, who had the U.S. Government take a share--an interest--in a privately held company; it is this President, who welcomed the leader of the largest Communist Party in the world to the White House, fawning over him, having the military on their hands and knees straightening out a red carpet for him, while banning the free press from the White House and welcoming the communist press in. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle should stand together in opposing this clearly unlawful and wrong use of taxpayer money. This is an incredibly wealthy President with a huge war chest that can afford to fund whatever political messages he wants. It should not come at the cost of hard-earned American tax dollars. So, despite the fact that we can’t pass this resolution today, I hope that the administration listens to the bipartisan pushback on these ads and reverses course immediately. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). The Senator from Virginia.”
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Speech in the House
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Mr. President, it is really disappointing that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have blocked a resolution that simply says these plainly political television ads should not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. One of the ads is literally one of the President’s campaign ads from 2024. It is clearly a campaign message, but he is making all of us pay for it at a time when he has sent grocery costs, rent costs, and gas costs soaring. Any American who watches this ad can see that it is not a PSA like the White House claims. What is the public service message here? People know the difference between a PSA and a political ad. Moreover, if we are going to talk about which side of the aisle is supporting communism and socialism, it is this President, who had the U.S. Government take a share--an interest--in a privately held company; it is this President, who welcomed the leader of the largest Communist Party in the world to the White House, fawning over him, having the military on their hands and knees straightening out a red carpet for him, while banning the free press from the White House and welcoming the communist press in. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle should stand together in opposing this clearly unlawful and wrong use of taxpayer money. This is an incredibly wealthy President with a huge war chest that can afford to fund whatever political messages he wants. It should not come at the cost of hard-earned American tax dollars. So, despite the fact that we can’t pass this resolution today, I hope that the administration listens to the bipartisan pushback on these ads and reverses course immediately. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). The Senator from Virginia.