Trump campaign cancels ad buys to review messaging strategy: report

The Trump campaign has paused its digital advertising efforts to “review” its strategy, a campaign official told NBC News. 

The campaign official pointed to the recent changes in staff as a reason for the ad buy halt, according to NBC. 

“With the leadership change in the campaign, there’s understandably a review and fine-tuning of the campaign’s strategy. We’ll be back on the air shortly, even more forcefully exposing Joe Biden as a puppet of the radical left-wing,” the campaign official said.

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was demoted earlier this month, with deputy campaign manager Bill Stepien taking his place.

The campaign spent virtually nothing over the last two days on radio and television ads, and has yet to book advertising for most of August, according to NBC. The media outlet analyzed data from Advertising Analytics, a Virginia-based media intelligence firm.

The decision comes as the campaign has also halted ad buys in Michigan, a key swing state the president won over Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016. However, the campaign still has a large amount of ad coverage in the state that was already purchased for the month of September.

“The Trump Campaign and the RNC have made unprecedented financial investments in Michigan already this cycle and thanks to their efforts, the Michigan Republican Party has built the most robust and sophisticated ground operation the state has ever seen,” Laura Cox, the chair of Michigan’s Republican Party told The Hill.

“We are confident that the president’s major commitment to Michigan will lead to victory in the Great Lakes State this November – just as it did in 2016,” Cox said. 

The president currently trails former Vice President Joe Biden (D) in most national polling and in many key swing states, including Michigan.