More Trump propaganda videos posted to YouTube despite court order
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The Trump administration posted more political ads on the official White House YouTube Monday, appearing to defy a court order that blocked the ads from being aired, pro-democracy groups told a federal court.
Despite a New York judge granting Common Cause and a coalition of other pro-democracy groups’ motion Sunday for a temporary restraining order blocking the political ads, the Trump administration posted four new political ads on YouTube the next day. These ads, though not aired on television, have garnered a cumulative 189,000 views in the two days they have been live.
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In a notice filed Tuesday, Common Cause raised concerns about these new ads and asked the Trump administration if they were developed, created or published using the $20 million that the administration diverted from immigration enforcement without congressional approval.
Common Cause also wrote that two of the ads challenged in their lawsuit, titled “America Will Never Be a Socialist/Communist Country” and “Mount Rushmore,” are still up on the White House YouTube channel. These two ads have a total of 70,000 views.
The Trump administration continued to air some of its ads despite the court order, blaming internal email delays over the weekend for the initial failure to comply.
Common Cause originally filed its lawsuit against the Trump administration on Oct. 7 for using taxpayer dollars to produce and distribute political ads “glorifying” President Donald Trump in an effort to support Republican candidates as midterm voting begins.
The pro-democracy groups alleged Trump told Office of Management and Budget director Russel Vought to find government funds for these ads despite prohibitions on using public funds for political advertising. Common Cause argued these ads violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution and asked the Court to block the Trump administration from producing and airing them.
District Court Judge Jennifer Rochon granted the temporary restraining order on Oct. 11, writing that Common Cause provided a “strong showing” and it was likely to win its lawsuit.
The court will hold a hearing Wednesday to determine whether the Trump administration violated the restraining order when it ran ads after the order was issued.