The Biden campaign spent $6 million on Facebook ads targeting President Donald Trump from March 8 to May 16, while the Trump campaign spent just $419,000 targeting former Vice President Joe Biden, a new Axios report shows.
The two campaigns also differed on the issues targeted in their Facebook ads. The Trump campaign spent the largest share of its money talking about “fake news,” a topic that the Biden campaign spent no money on, according to the Axios report. The Biden campaign also reportedly spent just $614 on ads about the coronavirus pandemic, compared to Trump’s $142,000.
Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses the audience at the Democratic National Convention 2008 at the Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado, on Aug. 28, 2008. (Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden’s campaign spent the most money on ads about health care, spending $712,000 compared to Trump’s $58,000. The Trump campaign spent the second largest share of its money on immigration ads, on which the president’s campaign spent more than 124 times the amount the Biden campaign did.
There was a spending gap of at least $98,000 between the two campaigns on every issue except for foreign policy, guns and gun violence and taxes, according to the Axios report. (RELATED: Trump Campaign Raised $212 Million In First Quarter 2020 — Brings Election Cycle Total To $677 Million)
Currently, over two-thirds of all money spent on advertisements is on ads that try to get people to donate or volunteer for the campaign, something called a “direct response” ad.
So far, twice as much money has been spent on this year’s primary than was spent during any other election cycle, excluding billionaire primary candidate Michael Bloomberg’s expenditures during his campaign, according to a May 18 Axios report.
This election cycle is unique due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced both campaigns to focus their attention on digital and television advertising as they are unable to hold rallies and other in-person events.