Nikki Haley and her allies have waged an aggressive campaign on South Carolina airwaves ahead of tomorrow’s primary, outspending Donald Trump by roughly $15 million while airing sharp attack ads calling the former president “washed up,” “raving,” and “sick.”
On Friday, SFA Fund, the lead pro-Haley super PAC, launched its latest ad, featuring stark Black and White imaging, asking voters, “You fed up with all the politicians? Sick of washed-up failures that just won’t go away?”
The ad continues, “Had enough of the scandals and the insults, the lawsuits and the drama? Tired of the rage filled rants and tweets ready to make it all go away? Well, you can. On February 24th vote to end the chaos.”
Notably, the ad informs viewers that “this election is open to all registered South Carolina voters” – an implicit appeal to the kind of independent and even potentially Democratic voters that the Haley campaign has been targeting and is hoping could help on Saturday.
Overall, pro-Haley advertisers including SFA Fund, the Haley campaign, and Americans for Prosperity Action (the super PAC arm of the megadonor Koch family political network) have combined to spend about $16.2 million on advertising ahead of tomorrow’s contest.
By contrast, Trump’s network has pointedly avoided investing much in the state, only spending about $1.3 million total on ads in South Carolina – a show of confidence in the former president’s commanding polling lead.
