Biden airs Ukraine ‘war zone’ ad

United States President Joe Biden's 2024 election campaign ad debuted on social media Thursday and will air on TV in US battleground states during prime time on Saturday.

The 60-second spot shows a sunglasses-clad Biden, war zone imagery based on his surprise trip to Kyiv in February and macho voiceover that portray the global leadership of the 80-year-old president.

It also makes America's oldest commander-in-chief the embodiment of the Democrat's support against Russia's brutal 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

It was a political gamble for Biden to give Kyiv his full backing  — and more than $43 billion in military aid — but he is now doubling down that it could help him at the ballot box.

"It was the first time in modern history that an American president went into a war zone not controlled by the United States," the ad starts, narrated by a gravelly voiced man.

the ad shows photos of Biden taking a train from Poland to Kyiv "under cover of night."

It then describes him walking "shoulder to shoulder with our allies in the war-torn streets, standing up for democracy in a place where a tyrant is waging war to take it away."

Cue a picture of Putin raising a glass of champagne. Then footage of soldiers firing cannons, followed by Biden in his trademark aviator sunglasses meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"In the middle of a war zone, Joe Biden showed the world what America is made of. That's the quiet strength of a true leader who doesn't back down to a dictator," the ad concludes.

The ad shows Team Biden sees his Ukraine stance as crucial for a counteroffensive against Republican contenders.

The president is struggling with tepid approval ratings and low visibility ahead of a possible rematch with airtime-hogging Donald Trump next year.

Both Republican and Democrat voters are concerned that he's too old for a second term.

WITH AFP