Texas Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt’s Hellfire PAC is launching a six-figure ad campaign during the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday, targeting swing state cities with large Black populations. The ads, airing on Fox News and CNN in key battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, directly address what Hunt calls President Biden’s “real record on race.”
Hunt, a first-term congressman who is spearheading former President Trump’s outreach to Black voters, claims Biden’s political history exhibits a pattern of “making explicitly racist comments, authoring and endorsing discriminatory policies, and associating with individuals known as segregationists.” The ad campaign, part of Hunt’s strategy to sway Black voters towards Trump in November, aims to expose this alleged history to a wider audience.
The 60-second ad features several controversial statements by Biden regarding race, including his past opposition to school desegregation. It highlights a 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate where then-rival candidate Kamala Harris criticized Biden’s 1975 stance against busing. The ad also scrutinizes Biden’s relationships with segregationist Southern Democrats and quotes various remarks from his political career deemed insensitive or inappropriate by Hunt.
Hunt argues that no Republican would be able to escape the scrutiny faced by Biden for his past comments and actions. He believes that the Democrat president is often given a pass, while Republicans are held to a higher standard regarding race.
The ad campaign will run in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Milwaukee, and Detroit during the CNN Presidential Debate. Hunt, along with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., will also participate in a moderated discussion titled “Congress, Cognac and Cigars” in Atlanta, focusing on how Black male voters will influence the 2024 election.
Hunt’s strategy aims to attract 25% to 35% of the Black male vote for Republicans, a significant goal considering Trump garnered 19% of this demographic in 2020. While this ambition remains a long shot, it could potentially have a major impact on the outcome of the election.
