The Trump campaign has officially switched gears on its electoral strategy after Joe Biden's decision to drop out, now attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for her role on the border and immigration enforcement.
To that end, the Trump campaign made a two-week, $12 million purchase for broadcast, cable and digital airtime across the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin, The Washington Post reports.
The new half-minute ad highlights Harris' role on immigration, dubbing her the "border czar," a narrative well adopted by the GOP, which seeks to blame her for the wave of unauthorized migrants into the U.S.
After displaying headlines about crime and drugs, Trump's ad concludes, "Kamala Harris. Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal."
Since Harris further stepped into the national spotlight after president Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, the GOP has focused on the border situation as one of the main points of criticisms.
These allegations come as Harris was tasked in 2021 by the White House to deal with the Biden administration's diplomatic campaign to address the "root causes" of migration from countries like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, including poverty, corruption and violence.
Under her assignment, Harris has primarily been focused on convincing companies to invest in Central America and promoting development through democracy.
However, unlike the GOP alleges, Harris was not tasked to be the administration's "border czar' or to oversee immigration policy and enforcement in the U.S.-Mexico border. That role is mainly given to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his department, which oversees the country's main three immigration agencies, including Customs and Border Protection.
The new Trump ad includes a clip from a June 2021 interview of Harris by NBC News anchor Lester Holt, in which he asks her about not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border during the first months of Biden's presidency. "And I haven't been to Europe. I mean, I don't understand the point that you are making," she is seen responding.
Nevertheless, Harris visited the border weeks later and has since reported success in addressing the driver of immigration from those key Central American countries.
On the other hand, the Harris campaign is also stepping up the advertising strategies, also releasing a minute long video that describes her as "fearless," and serves as a highlight reel of her political career dating back to her days as a courtroom prosecutor in California.
Her campaign said it's the first spot in a $50 million advertising push ahead of the DNC, which starts on Aug. 19 in Chicago.
"This campaign is about who we fight for," Harris says in the advertisement, which is running during the Olympics, the Bachelorette, the Daily Show and other popular programs.
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