Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is pumping more money into an ad campaign designed to convince lawmakers that President Donald Trump should be impeached.
Steyer, a former hedge-fund manager who has spent millions on previous campaigns, is doubling down on a $10 million campaign ad pushing for Trump’s removal from office. Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, call the advertisements distracting – it’s now become a $20 million distraction.
“The American people have responded beyond our expectation to this message,” Steyer told reporters Thursday night. “The Democratic establishment is out of touch with the voters they need to turn out in the upcoming election.”
He suggested Democrats electoral victories in Virginia and New Jersey earlier this month happened, in part, because of the multi-million campaign push. The effort was not designed to defeat former Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
Steyer, who financially backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, has left millions of dollars in the wake of numerous failed political elections.
He spent about $86 million in the 2016 election cycle, for instance, in a losing bid to get Democrats elected. Steyer’s political group, NextGen Climate, spent about $56 million in 2016, according to campaign finance data.
The ad push didn’t matter much, because Trump ultimately bulldozed his way through the financial clutter on his way to the White House. He won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, garnering nearly 70,000 more votes than Clinton. Trump also won Ohio’s 18 electoral votes.
Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Ro Khanna both of California told Steyer in October to junk-heap his $10 million impeachment push. Pelosi and her colleagues believe the California billionaire’s effort is a giant distraction.
“I certainly don’t think that that’s a helpful effort,” Khanna said of Steyer’s belligerent position. His comments reflect Pelosi’s strategy, which is to steer clear of Trump’s trolling while positioning Democrats as the “no drama” party.
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