- Donald Trump’s allies pivot quickly to hitting Vice President Kamala Harris
- MAGA Inc, a super PAC, went up with an attack ad in key swing states Monday
- READ MORE: Follow all the latest developments in our politics live blog
Donald Trump‘s allies launched a Kamala Harris attack ad on Monday morning, tying the vice president to Joe Biden‘s policies and accusing her of helping hide the president’s decline from the nation.
‘Kamala was in on it,’ says the narrator of ‘Paid the Price’, a 30-second spot from MAGA Inc, a super PAC backing Trump. ‘She covered up Joe’s obvious mental decline.’
The advert went up in the crucial swing states of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania within hours of Biden announcing he would not seek reeelection.
MAGA Inc has spent or or booked $123.8M so far, according to AdImpact, which monitors spending on political adverts.
It shows how supporters of Trump were already preparing for the possibility that Biden would drop out after weeks of pressure that started with his disastrous debate performance.
Trump allies pivoted rapidly to attacking Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection. The first attack ads went up on Monday morning
Their strategy so far has been to use the same attack lines on immigration and inflation they developed for Biden, as well as hitting Harris for the times she defended the president against charges that he was no longer up to the job.
‘Kamala Harris has lied for years now about Joe Biden’s mental condition and America suffered for it,’ said Alex Pfeiffer, spokesman for MAGA Inc.
‘It’s time now for her to tell the truth and answer this one question: If Joe Biden is unfit for the campaign trail, then how is he fit for office?’
The ad uses Kamala’s own words against her.
‘Our president is in good shape, in good health, tireless, vibrant, and I have no doubt about the strength of the work that we have done,’ she says, over a clip of Biden stumbling up the steps of Air Force One.
The narrator then twists the knife, painting Harris as the real instigator of the administration’s policies.
‘But Kamala knew Joe couldn’t do the job, so she did it,’ the narrator says.
‘Look what she got done, a border invasion, runaway inflation, the American Dream dead. They created this mess. They … no, Kamala owns this failed record.’
The ad from MAGA Inc, a Trump supporting super PAC, shows a clip of President Joe Biden stumbling on the stairs to Air Force One, as it ties Harris to Biden’s policies
The Democratic Party has quickly rallied around Harris after Biden’s announcement
Biden made his announcement in a letter published on social media Sunday
A day earlier the Trump campaign demanded that Biden leave the presidency.
‘Joe Biden cannot take himself out of a campaign for president because he is too mentally incompetent and still remain in the White House,’ said top Trump campaign officials Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.
‘Biden is a national security threat in great cognitive decline and a clear and present danger to every man, woman, and child in our country.’
Key Trump insiders are privately delighted at the way the Democrats have had to change course.
After last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, when the party rallied around Trump after the attempt on his life, they are privately delighted that their opponents appear to be in disarray.