By the time it’s over, this year’s race for president will have cost at least $3.5 billion. The single biggest expense will be campaign ads.

Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The Times, discusses the story that each campaign has been using those ads to tell, 30 seconds at a time.

Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Donald J. Trump and the Republicans haverepublican-transgender-ads.html"> bet big on anti-trans ads across the country.
• The Harris campaign’s recent Spanish-language advertisingad-trump-puerto-rico.html"> has highlighted an insult toward Puerto Rico at Mr. Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden.
• Both parties are running ads that tell voters it’s OK to switch sides. “You can vote any way you want.harris-campaign-ads.html"> And no one will ever know,” one says.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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