Clinton campaign asks Weather Channel to delay ads until after Hurricane Matthew passes
After facing criticism for buying television advertising on the Weather Channel in Florida to air during its coverage of Hurricane Matthew, the Hillary Clinton campaign now says it has asked that those ads be delayed until the storm has passed.
“Earlier in the week, we made changes to our TV ad reservations across hundreds of stations in several battleground states, including Florida,” Clinton spokesman Jesse Ferguson said in a statement Thursday. “We have requested that stations in Florida delay any of those ads on the Weather Channel until after the storm passes.”
After making small adjustment to Weather Channel buy this wk, Clinton camp now asking FL stations to hold ads “until after the storm passes” pic.twitter.com/E5vtvpxOr4
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) October 6, 2016
On Wednesday, Politico reported that the Clinton campaign had spent $63,000 on ads that were set to air on the Weather Channel for five days beginning on Thursday, the same day the Category 4 storm forced Florida Gov. Rick Scott to order the evacuation of more than a million residents along the state’s Atlantic coast.
“This storm will kill you,” Scott warned.
Republican operatives seized on the news of Clinton’s “tone-deaf” opportunism.
“During a time when we should be concerned about the safety and well-being of the people in Florida,” Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement, “it’s shameful the Clinton campaign was even considering exploiting Hurricane Matthew for political gain by running ads on the Weather Channel in Florida.”
Tone deaf: as #HurricaneMatthew approaches @HillaryClinton buys negative political ads on @weatherchannel in Florida starting tomorrow
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) October 6, 2016
.@HillaryClinton tone-deaf to plan flight of negative ads on @weatherchannel in Florida to coincide with Hurricane Matthew. #shameless https://t.co/HT8znJGLRu
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) October 6, 2016
.@HillaryClinton planned to exploit the tragedy of #HurricaneMatthew by advertising on @weatherchannel. Appalling. https://t.co/28eZ7V4Hbh
— Steven Cheung (@CaliforniaPanda) October 6, 2016
The hurricane forecast forced President Obama to cancel plans to campaign for Clinton at a Wednesday rally in Miami Gardens.
On Thursday, Obama signed an order declaring an emergency in the state of Florida and ordering federal aid to assist in disaster relief efforts resulting from the storm.
