Kamala Harris Targets Trump With Project 2025 Ad Campaign

Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is launching an ad campaign to associate Donald Trump with Project 2025, a set of conservative policy proposals. The effort includes a $370 million media campaign focusing on several swing states. The Harris campaign claims the project reflects the authoritarian policies Trump would adopt if elected.

Democrat Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is preparing to launch an ad campaign aiming to link Republican former President Donald Trump to Project 2025, a series of conservative policy proposals. The first ad, released ahead of Harris' scheduled September 10 debate against Trump, will be broadcast by ABC.

Top policy advisers of Trump's have been heavily involved in developing Project 2025, though Trump has attempted to distance himself from it, labeling parts of it as "seriously extreme." During a July rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump stated, "I don't know anything about it. I don't want to know anything about it."

According to Harris' campaign, Project 2025 reveals Trump's predisposition towards adopting authoritarian and hard-right policies if he were to be elected on November 5. This narrative is central to a $370 million paid media push intended for battleground states likely to decide the election outcome.

Project 2025, extensively detailed in a 900-page book, proposes expanding presidential power by increasing the number of political appointees and augmenting the president's influence over the Justice Department. It also seeks to drastically reduce environmental regulations and crack down on workplace diversity programs, which the project claims are broadly illegal. Harris' targeted ad campaign kicks off this week in key swing states as well as the Palm Beach-Fort Pierce media market in Florida, a state where Republicans are anticipated to perform strongly.

With Trump's primary residence at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, recent polls show Harris gaining a narrow lead over Trump since she officially entered the race on July 21 following President Joe Biden's decision to step down. A late-July Reuters/Ipsos poll indicated Harris leading Trump by a margin of 43% to 42%.