Clinton campaign delays Florida ad buys

by Jordan Fabian - 10/06/16 1:34 PM ET

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign on Thursday delayed a planned television ad buy in Florida ahead of Hurricane Matthew.

The move comes after the campaign faced criticism for seeking to appeal to voters just before the deadly storm was set to hit the Sunshine State.

{mosads}“We have requested that stations in Florida delay any of those ads on the Weather Channel until after the storm passes,” Clinton campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson said in a statement.

Politico, citing a source tracking TV ad buys, reported that the campaign planned to spend $63,000 on spots to run on the Weather Channel starting Thursday.

The report noted the Trump campaign has also run ads on the Weather Channel this year. A Clinton aide said the campaign has been advertising on the channel all year as well.

Both campaigns are under pressure to halt or slow campaign activities as the Category 4 storm approaches the United States.

“I encourage both presidential campaigns to be sensitive to all affected by Hurricane #Matthew in the coming days,” former GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush tweeted in response to the report.

Republicans criticized the reported ad buy, saying it could cause voter backlash in Florida and other states in the hurricane’s path.

“Pulling these ads after getting caught won’t cut it. @HillaryClinton should apologize for using storm for votes,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted.

The Clinton aide pushed back on suggestions the campaign is purposefully capitalizing on storm coverage to appeal to voters in battleground states.

The aide said the Weather Channel buy was part of changes to TV ad reservations made over the past 72 hours on multiple channels in several battleground states.

Ferguson added that “less than 1 percent” of the changes to campaign ad reservations included the Weather Channel buys.

Updated at 1:55 p.m.

Tags Hillary Clinton