Tom Steyer, the liberal billionaire activist considering a run for U.S. Senate in California, is spending at least $10 million on national TV ads demanding that Congress take a stand on impeaching President Donald Trump.
Steyer, one of the nation’s most prolific Democratic donors, directs viewers of the television and digital ads to a website where they can sign onto the initiative.
In the ad, Steyer charges that Trump has brought the United States to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth “in direct violation of the Constitution.”
“If that isn’t a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become?” Steyer asks. “A Republican Congress once impeached a president for far less. Yet today, people in Congress and his own administration know this president is a ‘clear and president danger’ who is mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons – and they do nothing.”
Steyer has sparred with Trump before, including running Spanish-language TV ads featuring video footage of the then-candidate calling Mexican immigrants rapists and promising deportation for those in the country illegally. During the Republican National Convention, Steyer aired TV ads with Trump speaking ill of women and promoting his border wall, urging people to register and vote.
Last year, at a campaign stop in Florida, Trump called Steyer a “radical activist” and contended that he was spending tens of millions to elect Democratic rival Hillary Clinton because she “wants to shut down energy production all across the United States,” leading to higher energy bills.
Stayer’s new ads come after he wrote to Congress, all 50 governors and more than 2,000 mayors across the country urging them to back impeachment.
Christopher Cadelago: 916-326-5538, @ccadelago