Right for America, a super PAC supporting former President Donald J. Trump, is running this 30-second ad on television stations in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona at a cost of $500,000 over the past three days, according to AdImpact. Another $360,000 has been spent to run a Spanish-language version, mostly in Arizona.
Here’s a look at the ad, its accuracy and its major takeaway.
On the Screen
The ad begins with an image of Mr. Trump, as president, seen from behind while exiting a doorway at the White House as Marine guards step aside for him.
A man with a deep baritone gives voice to yellow-green headlines that flash through various forms of taxation that Mr. Trump says he wants to get rid of: “One man believes in no tax on tips. No tax on Social Security. No tax on overtime.”
As he speaks, the ad cuts through a quick succession of images of working-class and older Americans: a waitress carrying a tray of dirty dishes; an older couple at the kitchen table; a snapshot of Mr. Trump seated at his Oval Office desk flanked by Irving Locker, a D-Day veteran, and his wife, Bernice; a woman putting on an apron in a restaurant kitchen, a welder, a delivery person on a bike, a hospital worker in a surgical mask and scrubs, a man in a Dallas Cowboys shirt operating a machine.
Along the way, a clip shows Mr. Trump in a hard hat, flashing a thumbs-up. The words “American workers have been forgotten” soon follow, overlaid on a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris and her sister, Maya, laughing uproariously. That headline lingers over an image of a taxi driver behind the wheel, and then a truck driver filling his tank and looking up at the sun.
The ad cuts to video of Mr. Trump in the moments after he was nearly assassinated in July in Pennsylvania, pumping his fist and mouthing the word “fight,” as the headline “One man will refuse to fall” appears.
A billowing American flag briefly fills the screen, and then the headline is replaced with a last one — “For American workers to continue to stand” — over a final montage: Trump supporters, a retail clerk, a waitress, a man in a hard hat, Mr. Trump embracing victims of a tornado in Alabama, and a taxi passenger paying her smiling driver.
The Script
Narrator:
“One man believes in no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, and now, no tax on overtime.”
TRump
“The people who work overtime are among the hardest-working citizens in our country. And for too long, no one in Washington has been looking out for them.”
Narrator
“And one man will refuse to fall.”
CROWD
“U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”
NARRATOR
“So America and its workers can continue to stand great again.”
Accuracy
Mr. Trump has indeed called for a series of tax cuts during his 2024 presidential run, including on income from tips, overtime and Social Security.
The Takeaway
Mr. Trump has been trying to peel off more working-class voters, especially Black and Latino Americans who have historically voted overwhelmingly for Democrats. One of the ways he has tried to appeal to them is by promising big tax breaks. Working-class voters would benefit most from exempting tips and overtime pay from income tax. One sign that the proposals could be making inroads: Ms. Harris copied the no-tax-on-tips proposal in August during a campaign stop of her own in Nevada.
The ad ends by trying to harness the emotional resonance of Mr. Trump’s striking response after the assassination attempt, portraying his fighting spirit as something he will harness for the benefit of American workers.
The ad was paid for by a super PAC, Right for America, whose biggest donors are the billionaires Ike and Laura Perlmutter, who have given it $25 million.
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