President Donald Trump's former deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson stuck her neck out on CNN Monday to defend the White House's overtly political taxpayer-funded ad — and got outright laughed down by the panel.
"Abigail, when we looked at the spending that Republicans are putting out there on their own ads in midterm races, the vast majority of them do not feature President Trump," noted anchor Kasie Hunt — even though, she said, Trump seems desperate to make the whole race about him anyway.
"Is using government money to pay for this great for the Republicans or are they like 'Hey, can we look the other way, please?'" Hunt asked.
"I think this entire mini-news cycle that's been created around this public service announcement is a good example of everyone in the Beltway caring about something that really doesn't matter that much to voters sitting around the kitchen table," said Jackson.
Instead, Jackson said, voters care "about things that the president announced today in the Oval Office, the largest steel mill in United States history. They care about the jobs that's bringing to Iowa."
Moreover, she said, "I think if Democrats say that not wanting communism is partisan, I do think they're telling on themselves a little bit."
At this, the table erupted in laughter from former Biden administration communications chief Kate Bedingfield.
"You talk about the focus on job creation," said Bedingfield. "We never hear that from the president. You want to talk about a political strategy ... what voters are seeing is this self-aggrandizing ad that's like a glamor shot of him."
"If you look at every single poll, voters are saying over and over again, 'I'm frustrated that he hasn't kept the promises that he said he was going to make when I voted for him,'" she added. "So again, I just go back to if the point of this is to try to help Republicans in swing districts, I don't think that message is the one that's going to do it."
Elliot Williams, a CNN legal analyst, didn't hold back in dismantling Jackson's argument. He noted that even if it were true that the issue of who paid for the ads is unpopular, as Jackson claimed, that does not make it legal for the Trump administration to spend taxpayer dollars on them.
He also cited case law that prohibits government officials from spending public money on self-aggrandizement. Williams noted that the line in Trump's ad describing him as "the most resilient person ever" is self-aggrandizement.
"I'm sorry, there's no ambiguity about it!"
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