Biden campaign to restart negative ads after Trump discharged from hospital

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign plans to resume running negative digital and television advertisements against President Trump as he recovers from COVID-19, a person familiar with the plans confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. 

The move, first reported by Bloomberg in the late afternoon Wednesday, comes after the Biden campaign decided to take down all negative advertisements Friday following news of the president’s and first lady Melania Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis. 

Two sources close to the campaign told The Hill on Friday that the former vice president’s team was taking down the negative ads and had made the decision before the White House announced that Trump was being taken to Walter Reed Medical Center. 

In a Friday tweet, Biden wrote, “This cannot be a partisan moment. It must be an American moment. We have to come together as a nation.”

This cannot be a partisan moment.

It must be an American moment.

We have to come together as a nation.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 2, 2020

Trump returned to the White House on Monday, drawing outrage on social media after taking his mask off on the balcony upon his return. 

The president also reportedly worked from the Oval Office on Wednesday, less than a week after his coronavirus diagnosis, as his doctor said he was feeling “great” and experiencing no symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that coronavirus patients self-isolate for at least 10 days after the start of their symptoms.

Michael Gwin, deputy rapid response director for the Biden campaign, said in a statement to The Hill on Wednesday that while the Biden team “has always been about making the positive case for Joe Biden,” “there’s a stark contrast between Vice President Biden and Donald Trump and their visions for our country.” 

“We’re going to continue to make a full throated case for Vice President Biden and we will forcefully correct the record when Trump attacks and lies,” Gwin added. 

According to data from research firm Advertising Analytics, the Biden campaign ran ads contrasting Biden and the president more than 7,000 times, with negative ads running 324 times on Thursday, before the president tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19. 

By Sunday, those numbers dropped to 908 and 17, respectively, while positive ads promoting Biden rose from 2,106 spots on Thursday to more than 5,000 Sunday.