Less than a week after becoming the Democratic Party’s virtual nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris is facing a wave of attack ads from the Republican Party as she enters the spotlight in the presidential race and while benefiting from a massive surge in “earned” media.
According to The Associated Press, former President Trump and his allies are outspending Harris’ campaign 25 to 1 on television and radio advertising. Republicans have spent more than $68 million, compared to Democrats’ $2.6 million since Monday, according to media tracking firm AdImpact. Top issues include the ongoing border crisis and inflation, as well as her record, which critics have portrayed as extremely left-wing.
Harris, meanwhile, has received a flurry of media coverage since President Biden announced Sunday that he would not run for reelection and endorsed Harris as his successor. The Trump campaign has called it a “Harris honeymoon” and predicted a boost in the polls for the former California senator.
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But Harris' campaign is not worried about the onslaught coming from Republicans,
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School on July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wisconsin. Harris was making her first appearance on the campaign trail as the party's presidential nominee, with the endorsement of President Biden. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images) (Jim Vondruska / Choir)
“We're working to get ads out as quickly as we can (even though it's only been three days) and in the meantime she's dominating earned media,” a campaign official told Politico.
“I think it's like spending a lot of money on ads when you're getting the best and most deserved media of the cycle,” Clinton veteran Nick Merrill told the outlet.
The outlet reported that filmmakers were at Harris's rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday to capture footage for a digital-only ad.
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Meanwhile, AP reported that Harris' campaign has raised a massive $100 million between Sunday and Monday afternoon, and can launch a robust advertising campaign whenever she wants.
Harris spokesman Kevin Munoz told the AP that the vice president “will aggressively make her case alongside a campaign infrastructure designed to win close elections.”
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“In just 24 hours, Kamala Harris put abortion rights front and center for voters, shattered fundraising records and sent Donald Trump into a frenzied, public meltdown because she knows she's the best person to make the case against a convicted felon like him,” he said.
Democrat-backed ads are also expected to start appearing soon. While there are only about $2.6 million worth of ads through the end of August, according to AdImpact, the pro-Biden super PAC Future Forward will launch a $129 million ad campaign in September.
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But the Trump campaign still has much more to look forward to. The pro-Trump Super PAC Preserve America has set aside $45 million in ads through the end of August, while MAGA Inc. has set aside another $23 million.
Meanwhile, Harris and Trump are locked in an extremely tight race, according to a new national poll conducted entirely after Biden announced he was suspending his campaign and endorsing his vice president.
Trump has 46 percent support among registered voters in an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Harris has 45 percent support. Trump's one-point lead is within the poll's sampling error. Nine percent of respondents were undecided.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
