The Trump campaign’s first television ad of the general election attacks likely Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as an evasive, weak and distracted leader who did not protect the U.S.-Mexico border from drug trafficking, increased migrant crossings and a possible terrorism threat during the Biden administration.
“Kamala Harris. Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal,” the ad concludes.
The Trump campaign made a two-week purchase Monday of $12 million in broadcast, cable and digital airtime across the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin, according to the tracking firm AdImpact. It was the first television ad buy for Donald Trump since the Republican nominating contest.
The new ad, released Tuesday and set to run this week, directly attacks Vice President Harris for her role overseeing diplomatic efforts to stem migration from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, an assignment that the White House described at the time as combating the “root causes of migration.” Republicans and some pundits have since characterized her role as President Biden’s “border czar” — a label she has rejected.
The 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.
Harris visited the border weeks later and has since reported success in addressing the drivers of immigration from those three Central American countries.
But the Trump attack suggests she is responsible for other immigration-related issues, including the rise in migrant crossings during the Biden administration, the trafficking of fentanyl, violent crime by undocumented immigrants, and the recent reported arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of undocumented foreign nationals in the United States with ties to the Islamic State extremist group.
The spot opens with footage from a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, which Harris hosted in 2023 at the vice president’s residence, in partnership with the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective and Live Nation Urban. She is shown in a brightly colored outfit, joyfully dancing to a song, while the ad’s narrator declares, “This is America’s Border Czar, and she has failed us.”
After winning the Republican nomination, the Trump campaign decided against competing with Democrats in television ad spending through the spring and early summer. The Biden-Harris campaign has spent $138 million on ads from March until July 29, according to AdImpact.
MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, has been running television advertising during that time, but it has been substantially outspent by independent groups supporting Biden.