86 percent think taxpayer-funded, campaign-style Trump ads inappropriate: Survey

An overwhelming majority of Americans in a new poll released Monday said the Trump administration’s use of taxpayer dollars to fund campaign-style TV advertisements was inappropriate.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 86 percent of U.S. adults disapproved of the use of taxpayer money for the $20 million ad campaign , with only 9 percent in support of the move.

President Trump recently walked back the decision after a wave of backlash that included Republican allies . The 30-second commercial features a voiceover of Trump pushing back on the influence of communism, socialism and Marxism in the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters last week the ads carried a “great message” but criticized the use of taxpayer funds.

GOP Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.) agreed, recently telling the media it was “not something I would have done.”

“I just don’t think it’s right to be using taxpayer money in that way,” he said. “I think they need to rethink that strategy.”

Richard Painter, former White House ethics attorney, suggested that the use of taxpayer dollars for these ad spots could be “an impeachable offense.”

The president said Monday that his super PAC, MAGA, Inc., will fund the future “Patriotic Ads” following this backlash.

“The Radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking Ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A., and paying for them with U.S.A. money,” Trump wrote on Truth Social .

“This is a rather standard thing to do but, rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.,” he added.

The survey also polled respondents about their opinions on federal institutions being named after a sitting U.S. president, with 72 expressing broad disapproval of the action. The Trump administration has pushed to add the president’s name to institutions like the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace .

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted among 4,506 U.S. adults from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5. It has a margin of error of approximately 2 percentage points.