The conservative group Club for Growth is spending $30,000 on an ad bashing CNN, alleging the network is obsessing over former President Trump and biased in its coverage of President Biden.
“The Cable News Network used to break news,” the ad states in its opening lines. “Now they’re breaking records, losing nearly 70 percent of their viewers since President Trump left office. And no wonder. They’re still obsessed with Donald Trump.”
The ad, released Wednesday, will run on Facebook and YouTube for around 10 days and is targeted at conservatives, the group said.
“It’s about giving them a voice and hopefully bringing change,” said Joe Kildea, vice president of communications at the Club for Growth. “The ad drives users to a standard activist dashboard-style page which allows them to send CNN a message.”
CNN did not immediately respond to requests from The Hill for comment about the ad.
The ad includes a number of edited clips of CNN reports displaying network correspondents and anchors purportedly making positive comments about Biden and tells viewers to tell CNN to “cover the news and stop cheerleading for liberal politicians.”
It also insults CNN anchor Don Lemon and accuses anchor Chris Cuomo of helping his “big brother cover up scandals,” referring to Cuomo’s coverage of his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
In an email statement, the Club for Growth’s president, David McIntosh, said the group wants to “encourage the few Americans who still watch CNN to send the network a note and also change the channel — everyone else has.”
While it’s true that CNN’s ratings have dropped since Trump left office earlier this year, viewership has also dropped for Fox News and MSNBC.
Overall, cable news ratings appear to be returning to pre-2020 levels, before COVID-19, racial unrest and the presidential election drove increased news consumption.
Even non-cable news outlets, like The New York Times, saw record levels of growth in customers last year, but have seen growth rates decline since then.
In March, the Club for Growth said it would be targeting some of Trump’s critics in future elections, including Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), because they voted to impeach him.