Democrats prep ads, events to hit Trump during GOP convention

Democrats plan to use ads, briefings and other tools during the Republican National Convention next week in an attempt to cut into President Trump’s reelection message and tout their own candidate.

The counterprogramming for the GOP convention, which starts Monday, will include TV and digital ads released nationally and in key battleground states hitting Trump over his handling of the coronavirus and other issues.

Organizers from the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) war room and nominee Joe Biden’s campaign said in a Friday statement that the Democratic effort will serve “to remind Americans that Trump has really only delivered on one thing — a Chaos Presidency.” 

The groups will focus on a different theme during each day of the convention, focusing on “family” on Monday, the economy on Tuesday, health care on Wednesday and a “country in crisis” on Thursday — the night Trump is set to formally accept the GOP nomination for reelection.

Virtual briefings will also be held by Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Florida Rep. Val Demings (D), among others. The party also plans to hold virtual events in key battleground states.

“Donald Trump and Mike Pence can lie all they want next week but the American people won’t buy it,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said, according to CNN, “and the DNC won’t let it slide without holding them accountable.”

Biden’s campaign is already hitting Trump, saying he is poised to “lie” at the Republican convention.

“President Trump and his campaign, they are going to lie,” alleged Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, according to The Washington Post.

“I bet you won’t hear the word ‘climate,’ ” Sanders said. “And, you know, you might hear a few people quoting the Constitution, but you won’t hear anyone who understands it. Most of all, though, you are not going to hear a single reason that Donald Trump deserves to be reelected.”

The DNC has also “organized allied groups to share stories of real people harmed by Trump using the hashtag #TrumpChaos,” among other programming.

Both parties typically push counterprogramming during the conventions, with Trump firing off various tweets during Democrats’ event this week, blasting their speakers while defending his tenure.

The official business of the Republican convention will take place in Charlotte, N.C., though Trump is slated to formally accept the GOP nomination during a speech on White House grounds.

The Republican convention, like its Democratic counterpart, will be mostly virtual this year to avoid large crowds amid the pandemic, though 336 delegates — six from each state and territory — will gather Monday for proceedings in Charlotte. The event will also be streamed online.

The convention was initially set to take place fully in Charlotte, although celebratory events were later moved to Jacksonville, Fla., after disagreements with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) over the size of the event. Trump later canceled the in-person events amid rising COVID-19 cases in Florida.

Trump on Friday slammed this week’s Democratic National Convention while speaking to a conservative group in Arlington, Va.

“They spent four straight days attacking America as racist and a horrible country that must be redeemed, Trump said. “Joe Biden grimly declared a season of American darkness, and yet look at what we’ve accomplished.”