Biden Campaign Resumes Ads After Trump Attempted Assassination

The Biden 2024 campaign will resume political advertising this week after halting it due to an attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Democratic allies push Biden to keep challenging Trump amid poor polling. The campaign was running a $50M ad campaign branding Trump a felon before the pause.

U.S. President Joe Biden's 2024 presidential campaign is set to resume political advertising this week, following a pause after the attempted assassination of Republican Donald Trump, sources familiar with the matter revealed. The Democratic president had temporarily suspended ads and toned down political messaging following Saturday's shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. The assailant was killed by Secret Service agents, with motives still unknown.

Biden, grappling with fallout from a less-than-stellar debate performance last month, faces pressure from Democratic allies to maintain his scrutiny of Trump to boost lagging polls in critical swing states. Senior Democratic campaign aides warn that a prolonged pause could be detrimental to Biden's and other Democrats' electoral prospects in the upcoming Nov. 5 election.

In contrast, Republicans have ramped up their efforts, with Trump making an appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee just days after narrowly escaping injury. "The campaign and the Democratic National Committee will continue to draw the contrast with Trump," stated a senior campaign official who opted for anonymity.

The exact timing of Biden's ad resumption had not been previously disclosed. The campaign did not offer a comment. Recently, the Biden campaign launched an aggressive strategy to label Trump a felon, highlighted by a TV advertisement spotlighting Trump's conviction for paying hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election. Trump denies these charges.

The ad, part of a $50 million effort targeting battleground states, signaled a shift in strategy after initial reluctance to engage with Trump's legal troubles. Whether the new ad content will mirror the previous plan remains unclear.

(With inputs from agencies.)