Politics

Democrats Release New Details of Kristi Noem's $220 Million Ad Campaign

Was Kristi Noem's $220 million ad campaign a corrupt vanity project or a cost-saving masterstroke that exposed Newsom's hypocrisy?

Published 2 hours ago

Democrats Release New Details of Kristi Noem's $220 Million Ad Campaign

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Above: **Watermarked Getty Image. Kindly Replace** Kristi Noem, special envoy of the U.S. Shield of the Americas Program, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on March 22, 2026. Image credit: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Left narrative

Kristi Noem blew $220 million in taxpayer cash on vanity ads through a no-bid contract tied to her own employee's husband — that's textbook corruption. Even Republican senators like Kennedy and Tillis called it out as pure grift while Noem ran DHS like a personal PR firm. Waste, fraud and abuse don't get more blatant than this.

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Right narrative

That $220 million DHS ad campaign drove 3 million illegal immigrants to self-deport, likely saving taxpayers ten times the cost in benefits and housing. Gavin Newsom called it waste while quietly green-lighting a $19 million California brand campaign to polish his own image ahead of a 2028 presidential run. Noem delivered real results — Newsom just delivered hypocrisy.

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