By Theodore Schleifer, CNN
The super PAC funded by two major Republican donors, the Adelson and Ricketts families, is beginning its first advertising push since it relaunched with a searing new spot comparing Hillary Clinton to a Republican president: Richard Nixon.
Word emerged this week that those two families, among the biggest backers of the Republican Party but not yet Donald Trump contributors, would finance their own super PAC to help not just Trump but also GOP Senate candidates. The group, Future 45, is aiming to raise $25 million, but it is unknown how much of their money will be spent outside of anti-Clinton spots in Senate battleground states — an intentional move to boost down-ballot Republicans.
“A secretive, paranoid politician who destroyed 30,000 pieces of evidence,” says the narrator, referring to Clinton’s lost emails as secretary of state. Shadowed figures appear on the screen as Clinton’s scandals are rattled off. Nixon and Clinton’s images appear side-by-side.
“At least Nixon was right about one thing,” says the narrator as the spot concludes.
“People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook,” Nixon then says.
The PAC did not immediately respond to questions about whether the ad will run on television or digital. But CNN reported Thursday that the group plans to run television ads in six states with competitive Senate races: Florida, Nevada, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
The super PAC, envisioned to be a leading presidential spender on the Republican side, gradually grew dormant earlier this year after Trump won the nomination. But the Ricketts and Adelson families — seeing a path to the Senate majority for Republicans if Trump can remain competitive — just this week chose to pony up for their own group; the Ricketts family has dedicated $1 million, and the Adelsons are expected to give at least $5 million to Ricketts political organizations.
The Guardian reported Friday that Adelson would eventually give up to $25 million to the group.
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