New Kamala Harris Ad Turns the Tables on Trump Over Issue Voters Say He’s Strong On

An ad released by Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign on Tuesday seeks to upend the narrative that former President Donald Trump is strong on the issue of immigration.

Trump and Republicans have made the border and immigration a major prong in their attacks against Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration. They have seized on the vice president’s role in addressing the root causes of illegal immigration and looking to place much of the blame on her.

A recent YouGov poll shows voters believe Trump leading Harris by 15 percentage points when it comes to handling immigration.

However, rather the shy away from the issue, the Harris campaign is going on the offensive. The ad states that Trump “blocked” several provisions to address the border issue. Earlier this year, the former president urged Republican lawmakers to tank a bipartisan immigration bill because he wanted to continue using the issue as a cudgel against President Joe Biden , who has since ended his reelection bid. Those Republicans did .

Here is a transcript of the 50-second ad:

On the border, the choice is simple. Kamala Harris supports increasing the number of border patrol agents. Donald Trump blocked a bill to increase the number of border patrol agents.

Kamala Harris supports investing in new technology to block fentanyl from entering the country. Donald Trump blocked funding for technology to block fentanyl from entering the country.

Kamala Harris supports spending more money to stop human traffickers. Donald Trump blocked money to stop human traffickers.

Kamala Harris prosecuted transnational gang members and got them sentenced to prison. Trump is trying to avoid being sentenced to prison.

There’s two choices in this election: the one who will fix our broken immigration system and the one who’s trying to stop her.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the strategy will prove effective, but it is nonetheless a clever attempt to turn an opponent’s strength into a weakness. It’s worked before. During the 2004 presidential campaign, Democratic nominee John Kerry came under scrutiny thanks to a dubious outfit called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Its members had served in the Vietnam War with Kerry and called into question the merits of some of the medals Kerry had been awarded. They also criticized him for speaking out against the war upon returning home.

Many Democrats anticipated that Kerry’s combat experience would give him an advantage over President George W. Bush , who during the Vietnam War served in the Texas and Alabama Air National Guards without ever being deployed.

Watch above via Harris 2024.