After taking a week to level out its reaction to President Joe Biden dropping his re-election bid, the Trump team is starting to release its first ad blitz against Vice President – and presumptive Democratic nominee – Kamala Harris.
The first ad, titled “I Don’t Understand,” focuses on Harris and her policies, calling her a “failed” politician and “dangerously liberal.”
“Under Harris, over 10 million illegally here. A quarter of a million Americans dead from fentanyl. Brutal migrant crimes. And ISIS — now here,” the ad says.
More on the new ad blitz – and the mentality behind it – from POLITICO this morning.
The new offensive suggests that, after a week of scrambling to find the best message for attacking Trump’s new rival, his campaign admakers are sticking with the tried-and-true. What’s conspicuously not included are suggestions that she’s a “DEI hire,” allegations she covered up Biden’s mental state, clips of her laughing, mentions of Venn diagrams or any of the other attacks that have gone viral among the MAGA faithful but do little to move the needle among a broader audience.
Trump won’t have the airwaves to himself this week, of course. We’re told the Harris campaign is expected to announce their own large media buy later this morning, coming on the heels of a $50 million commitment last week from the Future Forward super PAC. Expect to see upbeat, biographical efforts to reintroduce the VP as the new Democratic standard-bearer.
But Trump insiders aren’t fretting. Far from it, according to our conversations last night with senior GOP officials, who remain confident that the sheen surrounding Harris will soon fade and their attacks on her record will sink in with critical swing voters.
“So Harris has a good week because Democrats are in such disarray that they had to force the sitting president to no longer run for president?” one of those officials sarcastically asked. “Has the Democratic base coalesced? Yes. But what we have yet to see is a true Kamala Harris. The vanity and rah-rah homecoming that they’re having right now, it will wear off, and they’ll come back down to earth.”
Harris may be getting on the air quickly and has had an objectively stellar fundraising cycle since becoming the presumptive nominee, but the campaign is still incomplete. She is currently without a running mate and is running out of time to vet who she wants on the ticket with her.
On Monday, one prospective running mate, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, dropped out of contention. But there are still a handful of candidates under consideration.
READ MORE: NC Governor Roy Cooper Withdraws From Kamala’s Veepstakes
The Trump campaign is working to define Harris as far more liberal than she is trying to appear. There have been several attempts by the campaign to moderate her previous positions, and she is getting favorable enough press to do so.
But if Trump is able to take to the airwaves and make the case against her, the race – which is currently still pretty even between both candidates – that can halt some of the momentum being highlighted by friendly media outlets.
