Kamala Harris surprisingly spent twenty times as much on Facebook and Instagram as former President Donald Trump in the week leading up to their first presidential debate. According to a NY Times report, the Democratic presidential candidate took advantage of this to flood battleground states with advertisements and search for new contributors around the country.
The company data shows uneven expenditure on Meta's platforms was $12.2 million to $611,228.
Following Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race and Harris' formal launch of her campaign, she has outspent the Trump team by tens of millions of dollars with a storm of digital advertising, prompting tension among Republicans.
In an attempt to obtain an advantage before the 2020 election, Trump, then US President, greatly outspent Democrats online.
Trump, who is now short on cash, is placing a totally different wager, highlighting the distinctiveness of his online persona, the longevity of a donor list he has been building for almost ten years, and his faith in the power of television.
In Pennsylvania, Harris spent $1.3 million on Meta's platforms whereas Trump only spent $22,465. In another battleground state, Harris spent $1.5 million in contrast to Trump's $34,790 in Michigan.
A look at Trump campaign's advertisement
Trump team has invested significantly more in Google, particularly in YouTube advertisements. However, Harris' political organizations have quadrupled Trump's expenditure on Google, from $25.7 million to $12.8 million, according to a New York Times review of advertising records in the seven most important swing states.
{{/usCountry}}Trump team has invested significantly more in Google, particularly in YouTube advertisements. However, Harris' political organizations have quadrupled Trump's expenditure on Google, from $25.7 million to $12.8 million, according to a New York Times review of advertising records in the seven most important swing states.
{{/usCountry}}In addition to visiting a bitcoin bar in New York this week, Trump spoke with YouTubers, podcasters, streamers, and TikTok users in a bid to woo voters. He even owns a social platform, Truth Social, where he keeps making post on regular basis.
Here's what Trump and Harris campaigns have to say
Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist, warned that “we just can't afford to abandon a platform to Democrats.”
Digital strategist for the Democratic Party Kenneth Pennington described Harris's expenditures as a huge “strategic advantage”, adding that the Trump team “just seems to be asleep at the wheel”.
Karoline Leavitt, a representative for Trump's team, claimed that there was no need to invest huge amount of money on advertisement like Harris because the former president is “our greatest asset” and people “voluntarily consume” content about him.
“Millions of people want to organically watch and engage with President Trump — you can’t put a dollar value on that,” the spokeswoman added.