Campaign

DNC to troll GOP debate by flying anti-MAGA banner

The Fiserv Forum, home of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball team, in Milwaukee, is seen July 29, 2020. The first 2024 Republican presidential debate is on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, at the Fiserv Forum. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has plans to troll the Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday by flying a plane pulling a banner that knocks the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement around the venue.

The banner is set to read “GOP 2024: A Race for the Extreme MAGA Base,” a DNC spokesperson confirmed to The Hill. 

The plane and banner, set to take flight Wednesday night, come as part of an aggressive media blitz from the DNC and the Biden campaign as Republican White House hopefuls gather in Milwaukee to take the debate stage. 

The DNC is also launching a billboard campaign in Milwaukee with three billboards around the Fiserv Forum — where the event will take place — and a mobile billboard truck that will circle the venue and highlight the GOP record. 

Biden campaign co-Chair Cedric Richmond and DNC Chair Jaime Harrison will also hold a press conference to rebut the debate, and the campaign will have “an aggressive war room” to ready rapid responses from the Democrats’ side.

The first debate of the Republican presidential primary, seen as the kickoff of the party’s presidential nominating cycle, will be hosted by Fox News. 

Former President Trump, who popularized the MAGA slogan during his 2016 campaign, has announced he won’t take the stage with his fellow candidates, citing his significant lead over the rest of the field in national polls. He agreed instead to take part in an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.