Ethics expert on Trump's new TV ads

So joining us now to discuss is Christopher Swartz. He is the former acting chief of the ethics, law, and policy branch at the US Office of Government Ethics. He's now senior counsel and deputy director of anticorruption and ethics for Democracy Defenders Action. So thank you for being here. I mean, what is your take on whether this is, in fact, a PSA, whether this goes way too far, given what we know from other precedents? And essentially who would be the one to step in and say, no, it's not OK? Yeah, so thank you for having us. This is not a public service announcement. This is not helping people find their way to the polls. It's not helping people understand how to deal with a natural disaster. It is not helping people sign up for our military. It is a covert attempt at partisan propaganda. It is an attack, an attempt to fearmonger, using coded terms, about Democrats and trying to support the Republicans during this midterm election. And that's clear from the language. It's clear from the context, and it's clear from the timing of these advertisements, on top of the fact that one of them is just a wholly repurposed ad from his 2024 campaign. And we at Democracy Defenders Fund are looking into all of the legal options, but there's other options. Congress can step in, and the Government Accountability Office can also step in and say, this is not a PSA. That is absolutely not true. That is double speak.

Another Republican, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, compared these PSAs or these ads to ads we saw from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She was showing off her equestrian skills. Do you think voters will feel the same way? I think Americans are done with. A recent Gallup poll showed 89% of Americans think that corruption is an endemic issue in our country, and they are tired of it. They are not going to fall for these statements that these are public service announcements. They know what this is, and they know that their taxpayer money is being used on this instead of the benefits and programs that would help them the most. As diesel is hitting over $6, we are seeing our American public stretched, and this is money that could be going towards benefits that actually help them instead of that are really just out here to fearmonger.

So you said you're looking at legal options. Does that mean you're going to be filing a lawsuit? We're looking at everything across the board.

Chris Swartz, thank you for joining us. Thank you.