Bus Ads Will Blast Trump, Promote Biden During Republican Convention

Anti-Trump and Pro-Biden bus ads purchased by Democratic National Convention. Images courtesy of DNC.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is turning Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) buses into rolling ads blasting former president Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention (RNC).

The DNC announced Monday that it was “going on the offensive early,” and purchasing ad space on 57 MCTS buses, which covers approximately 15% of the transit system’s fleet. A spokesperson for the DNC told Urban Milwaukee the committee didn’t yet know how much would be spent on the ads.

The rolling ad campaign includes three separate anti-Trump ads highlighting his support for overturning Roe v. Wade and his recent felony criminal conviction. They are contrasted by four that will promote President Joe Biden‘s campaign, employing the “Dark Brandon” image of Biden with red laser beams for eyes. The pro-Biden ads highlight his support for Roe, lowering prescription drug costs and protecting Social Security.

“Ahead of the Republican National Convention, Democrats are making sure that Wisconsinites and all Americans understand that if Trump wins, America loses,” DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement. “This year, the survival of our democracy is on the ballot, along with protections for fundamental freedoms, health care, affordable prescription drugs, and good-paying jobs.”

The RNC officially begins July 15 and the bus ads are just the latest salvo in a local billboard battle marking the arrival of the national political wars in Milwaukee.

Pro-Trump and anti-Trump ads have gone up on billboards along freeways running through the city, with Democrats highlighting Trump’s now infamous comment calling Milwaukee a “horrible city” and Republicans advertising another quote from Trump extolling his love for the city and that he has “great friends in Milwaukee.”

The bus ads are meant to complement the billboard strategy by the DNC.

“We’re trying to reach people in the most fractured media environment in the history of American politics,” Sam Cornale, DNC Executive Director recently told Wisconsin Public Radio. “And we’re taking an incredibly innovative approach, one facet of which is over-indexing on billboards.”