Trump campaign touts pandemic response in new TV ad: ‘American comeback’

President Trump’s reelection campaign released a new ad touting the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 60-second ad, which first aired Sunday night ahead of Trump’s Fox News town hall, is titled “American Comeback.”

The ad frames Trump’s response to the pandemic, including his ban on travel from China, as effective at mitigating the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 1 million people and killed 67,686 in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 40,000 people arrived in the U.S. on direct flights from China in the two months after Trump imposed the restrictions, The New York Times reported in April. 

Trump’s ad also praises a strong economy under the Trump administration, despite high numbers of unemployment claims amid the pandemic. 

“We’ve built the greatest economy the world has ever seen and we’re going to do it again,” Trump says in the ad. 

The ad also features some of Trump’s usual targets, including CNN anchors and Democratic Govs. Andrew Cuomo (N.Y.) and Gavin Newsom (Calif.). 

Short clips of the governors praising the federal response to the pandemic are featured, although Cuomo has also been one of the most vocal governors in criticizing the Trump administration at times over the lack of aid given to states amid the pandemic. 

The ad also includes clips of the flyovers from the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, which performed airshows over several U.S. cities last week to thank front line health care workers fighting the crisis. 

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is writing the greatest comeback story in history,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “The President, along with the unyielding resolve of the American people, will Make America Great Again.”

Trump may face additional hurdles in November over his response to the pandemic. 

Fifty-two percent of voters said they disapprove of Trump’s response to the global outbreak, while just 44 percent said they approve of it, according to an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released last month. 

A separate poll, conducted by researchers at Harvard, Northeastern University and Rutgers, found that 44 percent approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis and just 40 percent disapprove. The same poll, however, found that respondents said they approve of the jobs their governors are doing to respond to the outbreak more than they approve of the job Trump is doing.

The general election race between Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is also shaping up to be tight, based on several recent polls showing the president and former vice president in a neck-and-neck race. 

Trump often dismisses polls that show unfavorable results.