GOP invests $10 million into boosting Trump, with ad campaign drawing focus to SCOTUS confirmation fight

Seventh U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett smiles after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that she will be his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden at the White House Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington, D.C. With 38 days until the election, Trump tapped Barrett to be his third Supreme Court nominee in just four years and to replace the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

by: Associated Press

Posted: Sep 26, 2020 / 06:12 PM PDT

Updated: Sep 26, 2020 / 06:14 PM PDT

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The Republican National Committee is putting Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation fight front and center with voters just weeks before Election Day.

The confirmation battle will be featured in a new $10 million RNC digital ad campaign to encourage battleground state voters to return vote-by-mail ballots or go to the polls. The national party, in concert with President Donald Trump’s campaign, is planning local events and protests across the country to support Barrett’s confirmation as well.

The party is also incorporating Barrett’s nomination into its scripts that staffers and volunteers use when calling or knocking on voters’ doors, with a focus on social conservative Catholic and evangelical voters — particularly in swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Filling the vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been an unexpected political opportunity for Trump, who won the White House in 2016 in large part because conservatives were animated around filling the seat opened by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

The RNC on Saturday unveiled a website, ConfirmBarrett.com, to allow supporters to contact lawmakers to urge them to put Barrett on the court. It also anticipates trying to fundraise off the confirmation fight, including Democratic vice president nominee Kamala Harris’ position on the Senate Judiciary committee.

“With a full-throttled effort from now until President Trump’s nominee is confirmed, our teams will expose Democrats’ partisanship, aggressively promote the qualifications of Judge Barrett, and use this issue to galvanize voters to the polls in November,” said RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.