Biden targets Trump conviction with $50m election ad campaign

Joe Biden’s campaign is targeting Donald Trump’s criminal convictions in a new $50 million advert campaign ahead of the first presidential debate between the two candidates at the end of the month.

In the 30-second ad, which will run in all swing battleground states, voters will be told: “This election is between a convicted criminal who’s only out for himself, and a president who’s fighting for your family.”

The Biden campaign has previously steered clear of weighing in on Trump’s legal cases in an effort to avoid accusations by Republicans that President Biden is politicising the process.

Trump has, on a number of occasions, baselessly accused Biden of orchestrating charges against him.

But since Trump became the first US president in history to receive a criminal conviction when he was found guilty by a New York jury of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records, the Biden campaign has stepped up its attacks on the Republican nominee, publicly slamming his legal track record.

Earlier this month, at a fundraiser with a small group of donors in Greenwich, Connecticut, Biden for the first time called Trump a “convicted felon” and said his predecessor poses a threat to the United States if he wins another term.

The new ad campaign includes more than $1 million geared toward media reaching Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters. The advert will air on general market television and connected TV on streaming devices and mobile phones in battleground states, as well as on national cable stations.

In addition to Trump's criminal conviction, the ad, titled «Character Matters,» notes the former president also was found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud in separate proceedings. Trump also faces felony