Committee to Defend the President working with Trump supporters to counter Democratic convention message, launches Manchester billboard
by John DiStaso
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A national political committee promoting President Donald Trump’s reelection is launching an effort to counter the loud and long anti-Trump comments expected to dominate the New Hampshire Democratic Party state convention Saturday.
The Committee to Defend the President’s message ties the Democratic presidential candidates to the four progressive members of the U.S. House known as “The Squad.” The committee, which is not affiliated with the Trump campaign, will convey its message by providing New Hampshire Trump supporters with signs to wave during a planned presence outside the SNHU Arena on Saturday.
The committee, a “hybrid political action committee” allowed to make direct contributions and independent expenditures, is also purchasing billboard space on Manchester’s heavily trafficked South Willow Street to show a rotating billboard with two related messages. The billboard is expected to remain in place not just for the weekend, but for a longer, indefinite period of time.
The group shared its messaging and plans first with WMUR.
Inside the arena, 19 Democratic presidential candidates will be speaking to an estimated 10,000 or more party activists from New Hampshire and throughout the country.
One of the signs and billboard messages depict presidential hopefuls former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg next to larger images of the four members of “The Squad” – U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.
“The Squad. Ruling the Democrats. Controlling the agenda. Open borders. Socialism. Green New Deal,” one sign says.
The committee believes its message highlights that the Democratic candidates for president have veered sharply to the ideological left to appease the four “Squad” members and their supporters, who it believes are among the most extreme voices on social media.
Sources say its activities this weekend will be the first of many through the remainder of the Democratic presidential campaign.
“Suffering from Trump derangement syndrome, the Democratic candidates have all veered sharply to the left, hoping to appease their radical, socialist base,” said Ted Harvey, chair of Committee to Defend the President.
“Even so-called ‘moderates’ are advocating for extreme positions such as open borders and free health care for illegal immigrants, making it all the more important for us to hold the Democrats accountable.
“’The Squad’ doesn’t just represent a fringe voice. It’s the voice of the Democratic Party and our mission is to make sure the American people know that.”
The Committee to Defend the President was founded as the Stop Hillary PAC in May 2013, according to FactCheck.org. After Trump won the presidential election in November 2016, the group changed its name in January 2017.
FactCheck.org said that Guy Short, a political consultant, is the PAC’s founder, and Dan Backer, a campaign finance lawyer, is its treasurer, according to paperwork filed with the FEC in 2017.
Harvey, the chairman, is a former Republican state senator from Colorado.
In the current cycle, the Committee to Defend the President made $2.6 million in independent expenditures through July 31, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Source: www.wmur.com