Biden announces $15mn ad buy after fundraising surge

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden's presidential campaign on Tuesday announced $15 million in new spending on advertising, as the former vice president looks to capitalize on his polling advantage over Republican President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

The ad buy marks a sharp increase in spending by Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, who launched his first major advertising blitz in the second half of June but has seen a dramatic uptick in fundraising in recent months.

The Biden campaign said it would spend the same amount in the next week as it had in the past five weeks on television, radio, digital and print ads, including in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - states Trump won in 2016 but which Biden hopes to capture in November.

"The campaign is also broadening its national cable buys on news and sports channels, including a presence on MLB's opening games later this week," it said, referring to the start of the US baseball season.

The ads include a Spanish-language TV spot that will run in Arizona and Florida, two closely fought states with large Hispanic populations.

Biden raised $63.4 million for his campaign in June, compared with Trump's $55.2 million, outraising the incumbent for a second month running, according to Federal Election Commission filings published Monday.

Trump has also increased his expenditure, buying more than $41 million of TV, digital and other ads in June including on nationwide TV, according to the filings.

Biden leads Trump in national and swing-state polling as Trump has faced criticism for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak and nationwide protests against police violence and racial inequality.

Biden was preferred over Trump among registered voters by 10 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted July 14-15.