Hillary Clinton continues to outpace Donald Trump in spending on television ads _ an ongoing trend since the general election campaign began earlier this summer.
Trump, who this month launched his first TV ads in several swing states, is being outspent by Clinton's campaign by a 10-to-1 margin. In July, it was a nearly 15-to-1 ratio.
So far, Clinton has spent $75 million on general election ads, while Trump has doled out $7.7 million, according to an analysis by NBC News and Advertising Analytics, a firm that tracks ad spending by political campaigns.
Moreover, allies of Clinton, such as the super PAC Priorities USA, have spent nearly $47 million, compared with allies of Trump, which include the National Rifle Association, who have spent about $15 million.
Aides to Trump insist that the campaign will invest more on advertising after Labor Day _ a strategic move, they say, as more voters will be focusing on the election.
Based on an average of polls by RealClearPolitics, Clinton leads Trump nationally by 5 percentage points. She also outpaces him in several critical battlegrounds, such as Florida and Ohio.
In many of Clinton's ads, the Democratic nominee uses Trump's own words to make her case that he's divisive and unfit to become president, highlighting among other things his comments on the looks of certain women and his labeling some Mexican immigrants as "rapists." The support of both women and Latinos in various battleground states is critical to victory.
Trump's first ad sought to cast the United States as less safe under a Clinton administration. In an ad released Monday, he focused on the economy, promising lower taxes and job creation.
