Trump Campaign to Launch Seven-Figure Ad Buy: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump, beset by dropping poll numbers and unable to hold his signature rallies due to the coronavirus pandemic, is spending seven figures on a nationwide advertising blitz praising his management of the crisis, a senior campaign official said.

The ads are meant to be inspirational and to signal the start of economic recovery after weeks of lockdown due to social-distancing requirements, the official said.

The spots, first reported by Politico, will begin Sunday and air for a week. Politico said the first wave of ads will be followed by another intended to slam former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

The move marks a new phase in the campaign, which had largely been stalled since mid-March when much of the country closed amid virus fears.

Pelosi Supports Biden Amid Assault Allegations (1:00 p.m.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday reiterated her “great comfort level” in endorsing Joe Biden as her party’s nominee for president, as an allegation of sexual assault continued to dog the former vice president.

“I want to remove all doubt in anyone’s minds, I have a great comfort level with the situation as I see it -- with all respect in the world for any woman that comes forward,” she said.

The ongoing questions about Pelosi’s support of Biden stem from an allegation brought by a former aide from Biden’s Senate office, Tara Reade, who said he assaulted her in 1993.

Pelosi on Thursday noted that as a mother, she has “complete respect” for the #MeToo movement. “I have four daughters and one son,” she said. “And there’s a lot of excitement around the idea that women will be heard and be listened to.” But, she added, “there’s also due process.”

Earlier Thursday on CNN, Pelosi said former Biden employees have said there is no record of such a complaint being made at the time of the alleged incident -- and they never had heard any information about it. “Nobody ever brought forth a claim, or had anybody else tell them about such a claim,” she said.

Pelosi got testy when asked again during a news conference if there was a double standard in her having helped lead the opposition against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after he was accused of sexual assault by multiple women. “Let me just say, I respect your question,” Pelosi responded to a reporter. But she then offered that she doesn’t need a lecture or a speech. -- Billy House

Coming up:

Guam will hold caucuses and Kansas will hold a mail-in Democratic primary on May 2.

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