Elections

Source: Politico Manufactured ‘Non-Story’ To Imply RNC-Trump Split

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
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Politico ran a story Thursday morning about how the Republican National Committee has not spent any money on television ads for Donald Trump.

But an RNC official told the Daily Caller that the article — titled “RNC TV ad spending for Trump: $0” — is a “non-story,” insinuating that Politico intentionally withheld information to make it seem like the party is distancing itself from the nominee.

“The thing is, this is a total non-story,” the official explained. “In 2013, the RNC announced that they would not spend money on TV for BOTH the midterms and the presidential election.”

The official also pointed to the fact that Politico’s Playbook actually broke that story back in 2013, “but they do not include that info in their story from today.”

In 2013, Politico reporter Mike Allen published memo from RNC spokesman Sean Spicer that described “the new approach the RNC is taking toward investing [its] resources.”

“In the past, the committee would spend an off year accumulating cash and then, during the election year, we would continue stockpiling cash until the last 90 days,” Spicer wrote in the memo. “The thinking was that the way to win was to drop all that money on TV ads and get-out-the-vote operations in the final days before the election.”

“Things have changed,” the memo stated. “That strategy is both outdated and ineffective.”

Spicer then explained that, instead of spending money on television ads, the RNC would instead choose to invest in a “permanent ground game” to increase minority voter outreach.

MEMO Follow the Money RNC Investing by Christian Datoc on Scribd

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