The lawyer behind Philly’s giant Trump billboard says the U.S. needs to accept election results, no matter who wins

Dan Newlin, a major Donald Trump donor and friend who has spent millions of dollars in ads in Pennsylvania and other battleground states, says the United States must “come together as Americans” regardless of whether Vice President Kamala Harris or the former president wins the election.

”We must come together as Americans, and even though we may not agree or like the winning candidate, there will be a winner that we have to come together and be like, ‘OK, it didn’t go our way,’ but guess what? We are going to move forward as one country and march forward,” Newlin said in an interview Friday.

The Florida personal injury attorney also expressed confidence in the 2024 electoral system and the importance of accepting election results, barring if “somebody does something that’s incredibly dishonest.”

”I’m excited because I believe that this year, this election, will be a fair and honest [election],” Newlin said. “So much voter integrity that’s been put in place by everyone, by every state, by every state official, by both campaigns. It’s going to be that this election will be, at the end of the day, the results will be, you know, accurate.”

Newlin — who is responsible for the giant Trump ad at Seventh and Market Streets — is striking a much different tone than Trump, whom he has expended significant financial capital to help elect. The former president has said the country will descend into “World War III” if Harris is elected, and Trump and his allies have laid the foundation for sowing doubt in the outcome of the election should he lose.

Newlin said both Trump’s and Harris’ messaging on life in the U.S. if their opponent wins is too “strong,” adding: “We could always reel them back a little bit to be in line with our actual views.”

The GOP donor said on Friday that he had not seen or heard Trump share any misinformation regarding election processes, but that if the former president had promoted baseless claims, then a statement should be issued to correct the record. Newlin became an ally of the former president after Trump attended an event of Newlin’s in Florida for the military three years ago in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

After the assassination attempt at Trump’s Butler, Pa., rally in July, Newlin said he received a call from one of Trump’s advisers who asked him to make a first donation to the GoFundMe page started for Corey Comperatore’s family. Comperatore, 50, died after shielding his wife and daughters from the open gunfire. Newlin ended up donating $1 million to Comperatore’s family.

Butler is not the only tie Newlin has felt to Pennsylvania. The donor said his Midwestern roots have helped him tap into the Pennsylvania mindset. ”I grew up just south of Chicago,” Newlin said. “My father was a steelworker. … I grew up sort of what I would feel like maybe a Pennsylvanian feels like, you know, blue-collar and hardworking family.”