Biden launches digital ad blitz after nasty debate

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign is rolling out a digital ad onslaught Wednesday morning after Tuesday night’s acrimonious debate with President Trump, which was preceded by Trump’s own advertising blitz.

The former vice president’s ad buy included purchasing space on YouTube’s homepage — one of the most expensive digital battlegrounds and one that Trump took over on Tuesday. The Biden campaign also bought ad space on the homepages of AOL, Yahoo!, CNN, Fox News, Pandora, Univision, Reddit, The Daily Mail, CBS Sports and more. 

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding how much money went into the digital ad buy, which was first reported by Politico.

The ads attack Trump over his debate performance and hype up what the campaign says is Biden’s ability to tackle pressing issues, including the coronavirus pandemic and propping up a flagging economy.

“Over 200,000 dead, 14 million jobs lost, and Donald Trump spent an entire debate blaming others,” a narrator says in the ad on YouTube’s homepage. “America needs a fresh start. Joe Biden will fight he virus and rebuild our economy back.” 

Several other ads contain some form of message on Biden’s leadership, with an image on CNN’s homepage saying Biden is “Tough. Tested. READY ON DAY 1.”

The ad buy is part of the campaign’s effort to craft a positive narrative after a bruising debate that was characterized more by interruptions and invective than substantive policy discussions.

Trump repeatedly clashed with moderator Chris Wallace’s efforts to prevent him from interrupting Biden, while the former vice president at one point told Trump to “shut up.” 

While the Biden campaign lagged in digital advertising spending during the primary, it has looked to reassert its presence on the internet after a sharp spike in fundraising helped it achieve a bigger cash reserve than the Trump campaign.

“Millions of Americans saw real leadership from Joe Biden on the debate stage and they will see it again all day as we take over the internet,” Biden spokesperson Matt Hill said in a statement.