Vice President Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign is accusing former President Donald Trump of attempting to “stop her” from fixing “our broken immigration system” in a new campaign ad.
Harris, who became the likely 2024 Democratic nominee for president after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race earlier this month, is increasingly being targeted by the Trump campaign and Republicans over an increase in U.S.-Mexico border crossings under the Biden administration.
On Tuesday, the Trump campaign released a 30-second TV ad focusing on illegal immigration and deaths from fentanyl “under Harris’ watch.” Titled “Border Czar,” the ad accuses the vice president of failing to stop millions of migrants from crossing the border, labeling her “failed, weak and dangerously liberal.”
Hours later, the Harris campaign hit back with its own immigration ad shared to X, formerly Twitter, targeting the former president over his successful efforts to kill a bipartisan border security bill in Congress earlier this year while claiming that he is seeking to stop Harris from improving the immigration system.
“On the border, the choice is simple,” a narrator says in the 51-second ad as images of Harris and Trump are shown. “Kamala Harris supports increasing the number of border agents. Donald Trump blocked a bill to increase the number of Border Patrol agents.”
The ad goes on to argue that Harris supports “investing in new technology to block fentanyl from entering the country” and “spending more money to stop human traffickers,” while accusing Trump of trying to “block” the policies.
Harris’ record of prosecuting “transnational gang members” and getting them “sentenced to prison” is then touted by the narrator, who adds that the former president is “trying to avoid being sentenced to prison.”
“There’s two choices in this election,” the narrator continues as an image of Harris is shown. “The one who will fix our broken immigration system, and the one who’s trying to stop her.”
NEW AD: On the border, the choice is simple.
Kamala Harris is fighting to fix our broken immigration system. Donald Trump is trying to stop her. pic.twitter.com/t200w8iAYv
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 30, 2024
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Tuesday night.
The vice president was given the “Border Czar” moniker by the media after Biden assigned her to investigate and diplomatically address the “root causes” of immigration from Latin American countries in early 2021.
Harris was not tasked with taking measures to stop illegal immigration, nor did she personally have any legal ability to do so as vice president, an office with statutory powers limited to casting tied votes in the Senate and counting Electoral College votes after presidential elections.
In February, Republicans blocked a $118 billion bill that included $20 billion for securing the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy changes. While a group of bipartisan lawmakers spent months crafting the legislation, it failed in the Senate when it became clear that Republicans would no longer support it.
Trump told GOP lawmakers in a Truth Social post that allowing the bill to pass would be “a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party” shortly before it failed. Biden, Harris and other Democrats accused the former president of attempting to worsen border challenges to bolster his chances of winning back the White House.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
