2026-09-17T17:01:45.785Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/17/politics/donald-trump-republican-ads-cnn-analysis
华盛顿——
唐纳德·特朗普总统或许在美国政坛无处不在，但在中期选举期间，有一个地方你绝对找不到他：共和党电视广告的主角。
美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的一项新分析显示，在今年一些最重磅竞选活动的密集宣传中，特朗普只是个配角——很多时候甚至根本不会被提及。自9月初以来，民主党人在广告中提及特朗普的频率远高于共和党人。
CNN根据AdImpact的数据分析发现，9月1日至15日期间，共和党广告商仅投放了12条提及特朗普的电视广告，总花费约100万美元。而同期共和党投放的广告总数超过500条，总花费超过1.6亿美元，提及特朗普的广告仅占极小比例。
这与特朗普呼吁将中期选举完全聚焦于他本人形成鲜明对比，他曾多次对支持者说：“就当我是参选候选人一样。” CNN的民调汇总数据显示，特朗普的全国支持率仅为36%，他几乎缺席共和党广告的情况，凸显出他已成为政治负担的程度。
https://www.cnn.com/
当特朗普试图将自己置于中期选举的中心时，CNN的分析发现，共和党人基本上将他排除在电视广告之外，而民主党则斥巨资将共和党候选人与他的低支持率及其施政纲领绑定。CNN的杰夫·泽莱尼报道。
共和党中期选举前的广告策略冷落特朗普
共和党顾问告诉CNN，他们认为共和党保住参议院多数席位的最佳希望，不是在电视广告中吹捧特朗普的名字，而是界定民主党候选人，试图让选民认为他们无法接受。
“就目前而言，总统不是我们最佳的宣传信息，也不是最佳的代言人，”一位参与多场中期选举竞选的资深共和党广告策略师匿名告诉CNN，他要求匿名以免激怒白宫。
核心事实：共和党候选人及其盟友专门用于提及特朗普的电视广告花费，还不到其广告总支出的1%。
民主党则并非如此。
由于绝大多数美国人不认可特朗普的执政表现，在经济和伊朗战争问题上的不满情绪更为强烈，这位处境艰难的总统已成为民主党广告战略的核心人物，该战略旨在赢得参众两院的控制权。
CNN的分析显示，9月上半月，民主党广告商已花费近2300万美元，投放了95条提及特朗普的广告，约占其广告总支出的五分之一。这些广告旨在将共和党现任议员或挑战者与特朗普紧密绑定。
在密歇根州，一个民主党超级政治行动委员会在一则针对共和党参议院候选人的广告中称：“迈克·罗杰斯，全面支持战争，全面支持特朗普。”缅因州也有类似宣传，一则电视广告直言该州共和党参议员：“苏珊·柯林斯只为特朗普的利益行事。”
数月来，外界一直质疑特朗普的政治网络是否会全面投入中期选举，如今一个庞大的外部团体联盟已全面参与其中，并开启了巨额资金投入。但这些团体制作的广告很少提及特朗普。
就连一个与特朗普政治组织相关的新超级政治行动委员会斥巨资投放的广告——超过1亿美元的秋季广告预算旨在巩固脆弱的共和党席位——迄今为止也未提及这位总统。相反，广告的重点是攻击民主党人。
“阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛义德有问题，”其中一则针对密歇根州民主党参议院候选人的广告称。埃尔赛赛德是本届竞选周期共和党攻击的核心目标，他正在与前国会议员罗杰斯争夺参议院席位。
“俄亥俄州的每一分钱都物尽其用。谢罗德·布朗却要把它们拿走，”另一则广告针对这位2024年败选后试图重返华盛顿的前民主党参议员。
“罗伊·库珀。他的执政记录比你想象的还要糟糕，”北卡罗来纳州的一则广告称。特朗普周三晚间在该州举行集会，为共和党前全国委员会主席迈克尔·沃特利助选，沃特利正与前州长、民主党参议院候选人库珀角逐参议员席位。
制作这些广告的新组织“绝不回头超级政治行动委员会”（No Going Back PAC）与特朗普的主要超级政治行动委员会“MAGA Inc.”有关联。该委员会最近提交的联邦选举委员会报告显示，其手头现金超过4亿美元。这笔巨额竞选资金储备一直受到共和党人的密切关注，他们担心要在竞争激烈的中期选举格局中分配资源。
目前尚未发现有广告宣传特朗普提出的如果共和党赢得中期选举将向每位美国成年人发放5000美元补贴的主张。
尽管总统在竞选集会上发表了许多大胆声明，包括经常声称美国经济是“全球最热的经济体”，但特朗普自己的顶级政治盟友出资制作的电视广告中，并未出现此类宣传。
虽然大多数总统会远离中期选举，避免让选举陷入全国性的阵营对抗，但特朗普却反其道而行之。他全身心投入，同时激励了忠诚的支持者和激烈的批评者。
但共和党人的广告策略凸显出一场更为微妙的辩论：共和党如何才能最大程度降低11月民主党浪潮席卷的可能性。
虽然共和党竞选广告大多避免直接提及特朗普，但许多共和党广告商一直在强调关键的政策成就，尤其是与《一揽子宏伟法案》中的减税政策相关的内容。
根据AdImpact的数据，9月迄今共和党已投放超过200条有关税收的广告，花费超过7000万美元，约占同期广告预算的五分之二。
“我们取消了小费和加班费的税收，削减了社会保障税，”艾奥瓦州共和党参议院候选人阿什利·辛森众议员在其中一则广告中说道。在另一则广告中，她提到自己“与特朗普总统一同对抗健康保险公司”以降低成本，同时承诺将“跨越党派界限”推动立法。
“我与特朗普总统并肩作战，通过了美国历史上针对工薪家庭的最大规模减税法案，”爱达荷州共和党参议员吉姆·里施在另一则广告中说道。
共和党候选人希望在不疏远对华盛顿共和党全面执政感到不满的选民的同时，激发总统的支持者基础。
当然，也有一些摇摆州的共和党人试图逆势而为，寄希望于支持总统能带来潜在好处。
纽约州共和党众议员迈克·劳勒正与民主党挑战者凯特·康利展开该国竞争最激烈的众议院席位角逐之一。他投放了一则广告，展示自己与特朗普合作推动《一揽子宏伟法案》提高州和地方税（SALT）抵扣额的经历——这是其选区选民的核心关切之一，广告中还包含了特朗普在集会上赞扬他的片段。
尽管劳勒的几位摇摆州同僚未参加上周在德克萨斯州举行的共和党中期选举大会，但他仍出席了。他是那些试图在支持总统的同时展现独立性的共和党人之一。
“我会尽一切努力推动立法，”劳勒在展示特朗普的广告中说道，“我必须同时对抗左翼和右翼。”
One place you won’t find President Trump? Starring in Republican ads
2026-09-17T17:01:45.785Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/17/politics/donald-trump-republican-ads-cnn-analysis
Washington—
President Donald Trump may be omnipresent in American politics, but one place you won’t find him during the midterm elections: starring in Republican TV ads.
A new CNN analysis shows that Trump is a bit player – often seldom mentioned at all – in a blitz of Republican messaging increasingly filling the airwaves in some of the biggest races of the year. Since the start of September, Democrats have been much more likely to invoke Trump’s name than Republicans.
Republican advertisers have aired just 12 TV ads that mention Trump from September 1 to September 15, according to a CNN analysis of AdImpact data, to the tune of about $1 million. Those spots represent a fraction of more than 500 Republican ads produced during that period, totaling more than $160 million.
It’s a striking contrast from Trump’s plea to make the midterm elections all about him, as he repeatedly tells his supporters: “Pretend that I’m on the ballot.” His near absence from GOP advertising underscores the degree to which he has become a political liability, with his national approval rating just 36%, according to CNN’s Poll of Polls.
https://www.cnn.com/
As Trump seeks to put himself at the center of the midterms, a CNN analysis finds Republicans are largely leaving him out of their TV ads, while Democrats spend millions tying GOP candidates to his low approval ratings and his agenda. CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reports.
GOP ads sideline Trump ahead of midterms
Republican advisers tell CNN they believe the party’s best hopes of holding a Senate majority is not by touting Trump’s name in TV ads, but by defining Democratic candidates and trying to make them seem unacceptable to voters.
“The president is not the best message or our best messenger at this point,” a veteran Republican ad strategist involved in several midterm races told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid agitating the White House.
The bottom line: GOP candidates and their allies are devoting less than 1% of their ad spending to TV spots specifically mentioning Trump.
Not so for Democrats.
With a wide majority of Americans expressing their disapproval of Trump’s job performance, feelings that are even more pronounced on the economy and the Iran war, the embattled president has become a core figure in the Democratic advertising strategy to win control of the House and Senate.
Democratic advertisers have spent nearly $23 million airing 95 ads during the first half of September that mention the president, according to the CNN analysis, accounting for about one-fifth of their ad spending. The ads are designed to closely tie Republican incumbents or challengers to Trump.
In Michigan, a Democratic super PAC says in an ad about the GOP Senate nominee: “Mike Rogers, all in on the war, all in on Trump.” A similar argument is being made in Maine, with a TV spot pointedly arguing that state’s Republican senator: “Susan Collins does what’s best for Trump.”
After months of questions about whether Trump’s political network would fully invest in the midterm elections, a sprawling coalition of outside groups is now fully engaged and has opened a massive financial spigot. But the ads those groups are producing rarely include Trump.
Even an avalanche of spending by a new super PAC linked to Trump’s political organization – more than $100 million in fall ad buys aimed at reinforcing vulnerable Republicans – has so far failed to mention the president. The focus, instead, is on attacking Democrats.
“There’s something not right about Abdul El-Sayed,” said one of its ads against the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan. El-Sayed is a central fixture of Republican attacks this cycle in his race against Rogers, the former congressman vying again for the Senate.
“Ohio works for every dollar. Sherrod Brown works to take them away,” said another, regarding the former Democratic senator aiming to return to Washington after his 2024 defeat.
“Roy Cooper. His record is worse than you remember,” said another ad in North Carolina, where the president held a rally Wednesday night in an effort to boost former RNC chairman Michael Whatley in his Senate race against Cooper, the former governor and Democratic Senate nominee.
The new group behind the ads, No Going Back PAC, is linked to MAGA Inc., Trump’s main super PAC, which reported more than $400 million in cash on hand in its most recent FEC reports. That massive stockpile of campaign cash has been the subject of intense scrutiny by Republicans, anxious about allocating resources across a competitive midterms landscape.
No ads have yet been detected that amplify Trump’s call for a $5,000 payout to be made to every American adult if Republicans win the midterms.
And for all of the bold pronouncements the president makes during campaign rallies, including an often-made contention that the American economy is the “hottest in the world,” there are no such claims being amplified in TV ads paid for by his own top political allies.
While most presidents distance themselves from midterm elections to avoid nationalizing the races, Trump is doing the opposite. He’s all in, firing up loyal supporters and fierce critics alike.
But the Republican advertising strategy underscores a far more nuanced conversation underway about the party’s best chances of minimizing the prospect of a Democratic wave in November.
While Republican campaign ads largely avoid explicit mention of Trump, many GOP advertisers have pressed to highlight key policy achievements, particularly related to tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
According to AdImpact data, Republicans have aired more than 200 ads about taxation so far in September, spending more than $70 million – about two-fifths of its ad budget in that stretch.
“We eliminated taxes on tips and overtime and cut taxes on Social Security,” says Rep. Ashley Hinson, the GOP nominee for Senate in Iowa, in one of her ads. In another spot, she points to working “with President Trump to take on health insurance companies” to lower costs but also pledges to work “across the aisle” to get results.
“I fought alongside President Trump to pass the biggest tax cuts for working families in American history,” Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch says in another ad.
Republican candidates are seeking to energize the president’s base without alienating voters frustrated with the country’s direction under full Republican control in Washington.
To be sure, there are some battleground Republicans seeking to buck the trend, banking on the potential upside of embracing the president.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who is locked in one of the most competitive House races in the country against Democratic challenger Cait Conley, ran an ad featuring his work with Trump on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to raise the SALT deduction – a key concern for voters in his district – including clips of Trump praising him at a rally.
Lawler also spoke at the Republican midterm convention in Texas last week despite several of his battleground peers skipping the event. He is among the Republicans who are trying to walk a careful line of supporting the president, while showing independence.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get things done,” Lawler said in the ad that shows the president. “I had to take on the left and the right.”