Biden maintains dominance over Trump in ad wars spending battle

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President Trump has dramatically outpaced Joe Biden when it comes to stumping on the campaign trail, but Biden has proven to be a much bigger spender so far.

This week, the president kept up his frenetic pace, campaigning in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia.

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By comparison, the Democratic presidential nominee made just two in-person campaign trips this week – to Wisconsin and North Carolina. Amid a coronavirus pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 200,000 people nationwide, Biden has relied much more heavily on virtual campaigning compared to Trump, who’s repeatedly held large rallies with few people wearing masks, going against guidance from public health officials.

President Donald Trump acknowledges supporters after his campaign rally, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stan Badz)

While the president’s in-person campaigning vastly dwarfs Biden’s efforts, the former vice president retains a large advantage over Trump in another crucial campaign metric: the ad wars.

This week Biden kept up his dominance over Trump, outspending him $45.8 million to $17.8 million to run TV commercials, according to Advertising Analytics, one of the leading ad-tracking firms.

The Biden campaign’s biggest single purchase was the Phoenix, Ariz., TV market, where it shelled out $3.5 million to run spots. The Trump campaign’s top market was Tampa, Fla., where it spent $1.4 million this week to run commercials.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden talks with workers as he tours the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc, Wis., Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Biden also had the upper hand this week when it comes to running ads online, which until now had been much more competitive between the two campaigns. According to Advertising Analytics, the former vice president’s campaign spent $12.3 million to run digital spots on Facebook and Google. The president’s campaign spent $6.9 million on digital this week.

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The Biden campaign’s dominance is a dramatic shift from the spring when the Trump team was outspending the former vice president’s camp to run ads. But coupled with a dramatic surge in Biden’s fundraising in the late spring and into the summer, as well as a cutback in Trump's ad spending in August following a change of campaign leadership, Biden’s been outpacing Trump to run TV spots since the beginning of last month.

Advertising Analytics vice president John Link told Fox News that earlier this year, his firm was projecting $6.8 billion this year in total ad spending in all races.

“Those projections are proving to be light, very much enhanced on the increase in Biden’s spending,” Link highlighted.

The firm’s now projecting $7.2 to $7.4 billion in total ad spending this year “and a huge driver on that is the amount of funds Biden clearly has available to spend.”

The Trump campaign – and the president himself – have pushed back in recent weeks against media reports of Biden’s dominance in ad spending.

“We are advertising all over the place, but as much as we do, the Fake News likes to say we aren’t. Just being smart,” Trump tweeted last week.