Commentary: Call it propaganda or a PSA, Trump's latest ad blitz is paid for by you

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Set us as preferred “America will never be a communist country,” states the 30-second television ad.Never mind that socialism is a more probable scenario given the rise of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Nithya Raman’s healthy lead in the Los Angeles mayoral race.This commercial is not about semantics, political systems or the health of the nation.It’s about touting the alleged achievements of President Donald Trump, from “reigniting American manufacturing” to “defend[ing] law and order” and giving Americans the “largest tax cuts in history.”One can argue the legitimacy of such claims if they still have the energy to do so after 10 years of relentless MAGA puffery, but the real issue here is that this particular piece of bluster is produced and funded by the U.S.

government.World & Nation An ad running on Fox News and Newsmax showing images of President Trump and calling for the defeat of communism was paid for by the U.S.

government.Laws prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for “publicity or propaganda,” even if the White House is referring to its new ad campaign as a PSA.“This is the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and utterly illegal misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” wrote Democratic House and Senate Appropriations Committee members in a letter sent Friday to Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.They demanded that the ad be immediately taken off the air and that “Federal employees who knowingly violated Federal law in working on and paying for this advertisement” be disciplined.“The law is not complicated,” they wrote.

“You cannot use taxpayer dollars for political advertisements.”The spot, which first aired Wednesday on conservative media outlets Fox News and Newsmax, cos...