SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) A new national advertising campaign calls on Congress to impeach President Donald Trump.
The ad is financed by Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge fund manager who is spending at least $10 million of his own money. The ads are now running nationwide on cable TV and on broadcast stations in California, New York and Washington, D.C.
The controversial ad urges voters to get rid of Trump now.
Hes brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the FBI, Steyer states in the ad. If this isn't a case for impeaching a dangerous president, then what has our government become? Steyer asks in the ad.
Steyer is bankrolling the ad campaign and on Monday he defended it on MSNBC.
We do know this president has got to go, he said. He's met the standard for impeachment.
The ad is generating strong reactions from voters, including Tommy Tapley of Sacramento.
I think it's a good move, Tapley said, We need to start moving forward with that process."
But other voters were more skeptical of the campaign to impeach the president.
I just don't think it's going to happen, Sacramento resident Mike Pierce said.
The California Democratic Party strongly supports the idea of impeachment.
I think, honestly, most Democrats wish it happened yesterday, said John Vigna, communications director for the California Democratic Party.
But supporters of the president, including Sacramentos former Congressman Doug Ose, believe Trump is leading the nation on the right path.
I think Trump's policies are what we need, he said. It's tough medicine, but we need it.
Steyer has plenty of money, but most voters know little about him. So, whats in it for Steyer?
This is really about Tom Steyer running for office in California, KCRA 3 political analyst Kevin Riggs said.
The purpose of the ad campaign, Riggs believes, is to pump up his name identification numbers.
So, you can look at these TV ads as sort of a preview, Riggs said. Not so much about Trump -- but they are really a preview of his next announcement that he's running for either governor or senator.
The White House did not respond to KCRAs requests for comment on the ad campaign to impeach the president.
KCRA 3 asked Steyers office if the ad campaign is linked to a run for an elected position.
He has made no decision yet, the spokesperson said.
This is not the first time that someone bankrolled a campaign before running for office.
Arnold Schwarzenegger did the same thing in 2002, when he financed Proposition 49, which generated extra funds for after-school programs. Prop. 49 was popular and passed by voters.
Then in 2003, Schwarzenegger ran for governor of California and won.
Considering that his name is being floated around for a run at government office, this is pretty much the same shit Trump was doing to gain visibility before running for president.
Also worth mentioning that Larry Flint effectively put a bounty on Trump, offering something like $10m or $20m for information leading to the impeachment.
At any rate, Flint's efforts at least have the potential to bear fruit unlike Steyer's, since the general public has no ability to request an impeachment, nor has Trump actually done anything meriting one. ---
