Wahlkampagnen-Finanzierung: Werbung durch Steuergelder? Demokraten klagen gegen Trump

The Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump over accusations of using taxpayer money for election advertising. The US government's actions violate a ban on using budget funds for "advertising or propaganda purposes," according to the Democratic National Committee's lawsuit. Trump is accused of personally ordering the action and the US Treasury shifting $20 million for this purpose.

The Democrats argue that the "illegal use of taxpayer money by the Trump administration for election advertising" would deprive them of a fair electoral process and put them at a disadvantage. They demand the court in the US capital, Washington, to prohibit the US government from using budget funds for creating and airing advertisement clips.

The specific issue In the weeks leading up to the crucial mid-term elections in the United States, government-funded videos with Trump's messages are currently causing a stir. Among other things, they carry an anti-communist message and were broadcast on several TV channels. One of them resembles a Trump campaign ad from 2024. In the monochrome video, Trump speaks about the "last battle" and claims that "communists, Marxists and fascists will be driven out."

In the background, a choir sings the words "Love me" repeatedly. Trump's voice can be heard: "America will never be a communist country." A caption at the bottom of the video reads: "funded by the US government." Trump and his Republicans have found warning the US about a supposed communist threat to be a central part of their election campaign strategy.

They regularly label left-leaning Democrats as "communists" in this context. The debate over the videos The Democrats have been criticizing the videos for a while now, and even Republicans have criticized them. Recently, Trump announced that he would fund the costs of the controversial video messages himself in the future. However, it remained unclear whether he would also take responsibility for the already paid costs with taxpayer money.

In their lawsuit, the Democrats accuse Trump of continuing to air clips labeled "funded by the US government" even after he announced that he would cover the costs.