Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign will launch a $10 million advertising campaign in six crucial states this week to counter a surge in voter enthusiasm and donations for his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
It is Trump’s biggest ad buy since January, when he was battling Republican rivals for the party’s nomination. Trump’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment, but the bombshell comes at a time when Harris’ candidacy has transformed the race.
Since President Joe Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris last week, she has rapidly gained support within the Democratic Party and from big-money donors. She has also sparked new energy among groups such as young voters, whom Biden has struggled to win over.
After months of attacks on Biden’s qualifications for office, Trump’s campaign has had to work to find a new message to use against the younger and more dynamic Harris, 59, with less than 100 days until the Nov. 5 election.
On Monday, Trump, 78, released an ad on his Truth social platform that used words from Harris’ old interviews, campaign events and debates to paint her as an extreme liberal who has no touch with ordinary Americans, especially in the Rust Belt.
In response, Harris accused the Trump campaign of lying about her record.
“Vice President Harris has been a key leader in working to pass the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic, popular agenda,” Harris spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said.
Since emerging as her party’s nominee, Harris has focused on the serious crimes alleged against Trump in a New York fundraising lawsuit and other criminal charges against him, blaming him for a wave of anti-abortion measures in Republican-led states across the country.
MAGA Inc., a super PAC backing Trump, has launched a parallel ad campaign after it said last week it would spend $32 million in three states on new ads criticizing Harris.
Unlike presidential election campaigns, super PACs have no limits on donations, meaning they often have more money to spend. But they are not allowed to coordinate with campaigns on strategy.
Future Forward, a Democratic super PAC, said it is launching a $50 million effort to support Harris in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, six states seen as crucial to deciding the election because their voting preferences could tilt either way.
Harris’s campaign said Sunday that it raised $200 million in new campaign funds last week.
Though Harris is well-known, her policy positions are not.
“He has a second chance to make a first impression,” said Evan Roth Smith, a pollster at the Democratic polling firm Blueprint.
But he said the danger for Harris is whether the Trump campaign will be able to create an image of her in voters’ minds before her campaign speech even hits the airwaves.
Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said Republicans are moving to do just that.
“The point of this is to let people know that if you don’t like Joe Biden, you’re really not going to like Kamala Harris either,” he said.
As a presidential candidate in the 2020 election, Harris took several left-wing stances on immigration and healthcare to woo liberals. But as Biden’s vice president, she has stayed true to the administration’s more pragmatic policies.
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