“Of the more than $132 million spent on negative ads by candidates and the groups supporting them, nearly $70 million has gone to commercials assailing Mr. Trump, according to a New York Times analysis of data provided by Kantar Media/CMAG… In addition to Mr. Trump’s opponents, three Republican “super PACs” have made it their main focus to take him down. The Club for Growth, Our Principles PAC and the American Future Fund, all unaligned with any particular candidate, have spent more than $23.5 million on negative ads against him.”⁶

This April 2016 article from the New York Times reports on the unprecedented number of attack ads targeted at Trump during the earlier part of the election race leading up to primaries. The article mentions the significant number of ads that came from political action groups as well, including the groups that aired ads exclusively attacking Trump. Later, the article reports that “there is growing evidence that negative ads still work – and that they are beginning to take their toll on Mr. Trump,” and Ken Goldstein, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco mentioned Wisconsin as an example.⁷ (Wisconsin is discussed on my next page.) Lastly, the article references polling numbers swaying against Trump. A CNN poll had assessed Trump as having a 57% unfavorable rating among Americans, but following a series of ads by Right to Rise that portrayed Trump negatively, CNN found his rating had risen to 67%, the highest of any candidate. This article presents convincing analysis suggesting negative ads by political action groups can have a direct effect on candidate performance. 

6. Corasaniti, Nick, and Maggie Haberman. “Barrage of Attack Ads Threatens to Undermine Donald Trump.” New York Times, April 12, 2016, sec. Section A. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/us/politics/donald-trump-negative-ads.html.

7. Ibid.