WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign on Tuesday launched a new digital ad that labels Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance as “extremist” and a “danger to our democracy.”
The spot claims that Vance, R-Ohio, “could be a heartbeat away” from the presidency if Donald Trump wins in November, the first time the Democratic ticket has exceeded the former president’s age in paid media since becoming the Democratic became a candidate, a Harris official said.
The 50-second ad, which targets voters in battleground states, concludes with a video of Trump appearing to slur his words at an event, before a Fox News host says: “The former president, he’s not in a good place .” It’s the first time the Harris campaign has used such clips in its ads, the official said.
Age was a dominant campaign issue when President Joe Biden, 81, was still a candidate. Trump is 78 years old.
Harris’ campaign video comes just hours before her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, takes on Vance in their vice presidential debate.
It includes Vance’s own words, including when he said, “I would certainly like to see abortion made illegal nationally”; comments he made on a podcast while running for Senate in 2022; and “We really have to be ruthless when it comes to the exercise of power,” a comment he made about conservatives’ loss of cultural institutions.
‘He’s not just weird or dangerous. He could be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office,” the narrator says near the end of the spot.
Images of Project 2025, a conservative think tank’s blueprint for a second Trump term, are everywhere, in an attempt to tie Vance closely to it. Republicans, including Trump and Vance, have tried to distance themselves from the plan, despite the ties between the authors and allies of both candidates.
“The American people have made it clear: they do not like JD Vance, his plans to ban abortion nationwide, or his extreme Project 2025 views,” Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika told NBC News in a statement. “Debate Day will be yet another reminder to voters of the stakes of this election, and a stark warning that a victory for Donald Trump could put Vance, America’s least favorite extremist, just a stone’s throw away from the presidency.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
