Is Trump nervous about Florida? Dems say new ad buy is proof state's competitive

Amid the millions of dollars former President Donald Trump is spending on television advertising to blunt Kamala Harris' momentum, one small ad buy is drawing keen attention.

The Trump campaign bought $48,000 worth of advertising in Florida in the West Palm Beach media market where the former president lives, according to ad-tracking firms AdImpact and Medium Buying. The 15-second cable ads will begin airing Tuesday.

Democrats jumped on the ad buy to argue that Trump's team is nervous about Florida, where a pair of new polls show a tighter race than expected.

Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Phillip Jerez shared details about the Trump ad buy on X and wrote: "Donald Trump is scared of losing Florida."

A USA TODAY/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV survey released this month found Trump leading Harris by 5 percentage points in Florida, while a Florida Atlantic University survey had Trump up by 3 points.

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Trump tripled his margin of victory in Florida in 2020, winning by 3.3 percentage points, and Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by an overwhelming 19 points in 2022, leading many to conclude that the nation's largest swing state is no longer competitive.

But Harris has energized Democrats, including in Florida, where the party is trying to rally its base to take on Trump and Republicans down the ballot, including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. Democrats are pointing to the Trump campaign ads as proof the state is in play.

"We told you that Trump would start to put money on TV in Florida," Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried wrote on X.

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The ads running in West Palm Beach could just be for an audience of one, though. Trump, whose primary residence is his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, is known to be a voracious consumer of television news.

"Florida is deep red, Trump country but we will never take any state for granted," Trump spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement. "We have robust campaign organizations across the nation and make investments throughout."

An analysis by the Weslyan Media Project found that 44,000 ads backing Trump have aired nationally since mid-July, compared to 32,700 promoting President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race on July 21, or Harris.

"However, spending is greater on the Democratic side, with about $63 million in spending versus about $49 million spent on ads promoting Trump," according to the group.

The ad spending has been concentrated in the key swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. Combined, Republicans and Democrats spent more than $4 million on television ads for the presidential race in six media markets since mid-July: Philadelphia, Phoenix, Atlanta, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

The media market with the most presidential ad spending is Philadelphia at nearly $12 million.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats point to Trump campaign ads as proof Florida is competitive