Priorities USA unleashing new ads attacking Donald Trump on COVID-19 response

Screen shot from the Priorities USA campaign commercial "Pause."

Democratic political committee Priorities USA is releasing two new digital commercials in Florida, going after President Donald Trump for his response to the coronavirus crisis.

The 30-second spots, “Pause” and “Bertha,” are aimed mainly at Hispanic voters.

They’re part of a seven-figure per week digital campaign targeting voters in battleground states, and started running Thursday on digital, over-the-top television, and social media platforms. Both ads are appearing in both English-language and Spanish-language versions.

“The COVID-19 crisis has pulled down the curtain on how Trump’s economy was built to leave Latino families to fend for themselves,” Daniela Martins, national press secretary and Hispanic media director for Priorities USA stated in a news release. “Priorities will continue to make sure that Latino voters hear the truth about how we got here, and hold Trump accountable for this devastating incompetence in November.”

Andres Malave, Republican National Committee regional communications director for Hispanic outreach, argued that Trump’s coronavirus efforts have been successful, and he accused Democrats of politicizing a national emergency in a variety of ways.

“Governor DeSantis and President Trump have led a bold, whole-of-America approach to slowing the spread of coronavirus,” Malave stated. “Meanwhile, Florida Democrats have been busy politicizing a national emergency by stalling aid to Florida small businesses and passing a socialist wish list through the House. President Trump’s policies have built the strongest economy in the world over the last three years, that delivered record-low unemployment levels for the Hispanic community, and he’s poised to do it again.”

In “Pause,” the narrator declares, “Our lives are on pause, all because Trump downplayed the coronavirus until it was too late.” That statement is made over images and video clips of various Trump statements, mostly from January and February, including his “This is their new hoax,” statement at a February 29 campaign rally. Trump and his campaign have since insisted that statement was not relating to the coronavirus outbreak and accuse Democrats of using it out of context.

“Now we have the most deaths in the world. More than 40 million Americans are out of work and millions have lost their health insurance,” the narrator declares. The spot ends with a clip of Trump contending, “Everything we did was right.” And then the narrator observes, “Trump is failing to lead.”

“Bertha” focuses on the story of Florida grandmother. In Spanish, she says, “President Trump, I hope that one day when you get to be 84 years old like me, you won’t have to hear that you have to die for the economy.”

The commercial then includes audio of Trump declaring “There will be a lot of death,” and “The people of our country are warriors.” Bertha then points out that it is grandparents who take care of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so that parents can work.

In the news release, Priorities USA cited a poll that said Trump has a net 14% disapproval rating among Florida Latino voters for his handling of the crisis. It also notes that Latinos make up a quarter of the state’s population, but account for 35% of the confirmed case of COVID-19.