Conservative group plans anti-Trump ad blitz in early states

A new group with ties to the anti-tax Club for Growth is launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in key early primary states aimed at stopping Donald Trump from steamrolling to the Republican nomination.

The group, Win it Back, will on Tuesday begin airing TV commercials in Iowa and South Carolina. The new super PAC is spending $3.6 million on the blitz, which will run through the end of the month.

The move comes as Trump is solidifying his lead over his Republican primary rivals in early-state and national polling. The former president’s main opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has stalled in recent surveys, and others have struggled to gain traction.

The Club for Growth itself is not running the commercials, though two of its top officials are involved in the new outfit. In Federal Election Commission filings, the Club’s president, David McIntosh, is listed as the designated agent for Win it Back PAC. The Club’s treasurer, Adam Rozansky, has the same role for the anti-Trump outfit.

The emergence of Win it Back represents the latest twist in a long, complicated relationship between Trump and the Club for Growth. During the 2016 primaries, the Club spent millions of dollars in a failed effort to stop Trump from winning the nomination. But during the Trump administration, the relationship between Club and the then-president grew warmer, with McIntosh emerging as an outside political adviser. The alliance spilled over into Trump’s post-presidency.

But last year, Trump and the Club feuded bitterly over the Ohio GOP Senate primary, where Trump supported J.D. Vance, the eventual winner, over the wishes of McIntosh, who backed a rival candidate, Josh Mandel.

Earlier this year, McIntosh made clear that the Club for Growth would oppose Trump in 2024, telling reporters that “the party should be open to another candidate.” And this spring, the Club declined to invite Trump to a donor retreat it held in Palm Beach, Fla., though it did invite other candidates, including DeSantis.

On Friday, a day after POLITICO reported on the emergence of Win it Back PAC, Trump took aim at the Club for Growth during a speech in Iowa, calling the organization the “Club for No Growth.”

The 60-second ad is softer than some other ads that have gone after Trump and does not endorse any alternative candidate.

It portrays a man sitting on his doorstep talking about how he supported Trump when he first ran, but now sees Trump as someone who cannot win a general election against a Democrat in 2024.

“I love Donald Trump, I love what he did. Once he got in, my thought was that it’s a breath of fresh air,” the man says.

But the man then says that the “drama” surrounding Trump impacted his own family, and that his sister stopped inviting him to Thanksgiving.

“He’s got so many distractions, the constant fighting, something every day, and I’m not sure he can focus on moving the country forward,” he says. “We definitely need someone that can freakin’ win. I think you’d probably lose that bet if you voted for Trump.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung pushed back on the ad, saying in a statement: “Another swampy DC insider group using shady money to hurt America. Instead of bowing down and kowtowing to their CCP masters, Club for China Growth should be helping the people of Iowa and South Carolina fight against the Biden Regime who has put China First.”

It is not clear what donors are helping to bankroll Win it Back; the group is not required to file its contribution disclosure forms until early next year, just as the primary season is getting underway.

The anti-Trump offensive bears some similarities to 2016, when the Club for Growth launched an effort to stop the then-candidate from winning the nomination. At the time, Trump called officials from the group “stupid” and “extortionists.”

Another conservative group, Americans for Prosperity, is also expected to spend heavily against Trump. The organization, which is linked to billionaire Charles Koch, recently announced that it has raised more than $70 million.