Donald Trump’s campaign promised legal action and claimed it would launch a criminal probe into a super PAC that launched a false digital ad in Pennsylvania, including recordings of the former president discouraging Republicans from voting by mail.
After years of condemning mail voting, Donald Trump embraces it and encourages his supporters to use it in the presidential election. “MAGA Patriots, listen to our president,” the ad from Pennsylvania Values PAC begins before cutting to sound snippets of Trump slamming mail voting. “Mail-in voting is corrupt; get that through your head,” Trump says in one such video. The 30-second advertisement concludes with the on-screen text: “Stand strong with President Trump against mail-in voting!” According to Google Analytics, the digital advertisement ran over the weekend. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump’s team sent the group a cease-and-desist letter.
“We are aware of your commercial, which falsely claims that President Trump has advised Pennsylvania citizens not to vote via mail. This commercial may represent a criminal and civil conspiracy to violate President Trump’s supporters’ right to vote in Pennsylvania. Cease immediately from broadcasting or otherwise distributing this misleading advertisement on the internet or anywhere, and preserve all pertinent papers in anticipation of a potential lawsuit,” the Trump campaign stated in a letter to the group’s publicly listed treasurer.
In the letter, the Trump campaign claimed the group was violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was meant to protect Americans from political intimidation. That statute has also been referenced in legal proceedings against Trump and his allies in connection with the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
According to Google Analytics, Pennsylvania Values PAC paid $10,000 to $15,000 to show the ad to over 800,000 Pennsylvania voters. Google deleted the ad from the platform, alleging policy infringement. According to Google records, this is the PAC’s first Google advertisement in nearly six years. During the 2018 election season, it launched a series of ads criticizing Republican Rep. Lou Barletta, who ran for Senate against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.