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For weeks, the country has braced for Donald Trump’s next move to help his party win the midterm elections. Would the president find a workaround to restrict mail voting? Would he try to declare martial law? Trump’s latest gambit turns out to be both less inventive and similarly norm-breaking: a TV ad apparently paid for by U.S. taxpayers. The ad is part of a long history of this administration trying to use federal resources to boost GOP candidates in defiance of the long-standing, bipartisan view that governing and politicking should remain as separate as possible. Let’s dive in.

Wait, say more about this ad! 

It’s a lot. The ad (which you can watch here) opens with audio of Trump pledging to “defeat communism, socialism, and Marxism in America” and ends with Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White praising him as “the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met.” In between, rapid-fire images of American flags, military aircraft, and the president looking tough flit across the screen, punctuated by red block letters of Trump victories (“LARGEST TAX CUTS IN HISTORY,” “REIGNITING AMERICAN MANUFACTURING,” etc.). The whole 30-second shebang is set to the JMSN song “Love Me.” As unsubtle as all of that is, the real doozy drops in the final seconds, when a disclaimer appears stating that the commercial was “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” It has reportedly aired on Newsmax and Fox News so far. In a statement to the New York Times on Thursday, the White House called the ad an “educational and unapologetically patriotic” public service announcement. Uh-huh, sure.

And this isn’t the first time this administration has blurred the line between governing and campaigning, right?

No sir.........

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