Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist has been on the road throughout the country, with a push, in town hall settings, to impeach US president Donald Trump. A new 60-second TV ad seeks to add further pressure, especially in light of recent developments in the Stormy Daniels saga.
Airing nationally, the spot, entitled Unlawfully Executed, carves a familiar route, with a news clip-heavy timeline of recent events, featuring the back-and-forth of Trump and Rudy Giuliani, recently installed to Trump’s legal team. Giuliani recently claimed that Trump reimbursed attorney Michael Cohen $130,000 of hush money for the adult actress Daniels before the 2016 election and the ad pounces on the foible. This is the ninth national ad from Need to Impeach; the campaign Steyer launched in October 2017.
"The alarming events in Donald Trump's White House since Giuliani joined his team are further proof that he thinks that he's above the law," said Steyer.
"Trump is normalizing a disturbing pattern of deceit like no other president before him. We, the American people, demand immediate accountability on his obvious abuse of power, exploitation of public trust, and illegal business dealings with foreign governments," he added.
Steyer cuts a controversial figure among Democrats, who are not fully unified on whether or not to impeach Trump. Additionally, speaking to Axios last April, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served in the Obama administration, urged caution. “This is a serious legal and constitutional, not political, issue. I couldn't be angrier at Donald Trump. That said, you don't just flippantly say: We're for [impeachment]," he said.
According to Bloomberg, Steyer, who built his fortune with his Farallon Capital Management fund has pledged around $40m for Need to Impeach and a further $30 million to get younger people, especially millennials, voting in the midterm elections this November.
At present, Need to Impeach claims that more than 5.2 million people signed on to support the campaign.