Yesterday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign unveiled its second TV ad aimed at Green Party candidate Jill Stein, cautioning that 'a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump.' This move underscores Democratic concerns regarding the potential impact of a third-party candidate in crucial battleground states.
The ad, a collaborative effort with the Democratic National Committee (DNC), initially aired in Wisconsin and has since been broadcast in Pennsylvania and Michigan. With an initial budget of $6,000, the ad seeks to dissuade voters from supporting Stein. This ad follows a previous anti-Stein campaign that garnered $80,000 in airtime across the same three states.
The latest ad draws parallels between Stein and controversial figures such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a 2015 event attended by both Stein and Putin. Additionally, it mentions former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who has endorsed Stein, characterizing it as a strategic political move. The ad also suggests that Donald Trump's supporters are backing Stein, alluding to reports from the Wall Street Journal on GOP efforts in this regard.
'You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep,' the ad asserts, emphasizing that 'a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump.'
The initial ad from the Harris campaign and DNC conveyed a similar message, attributing Stein as a pivotal factor in Trump's victories in battleground states during the 2016 election. It reiterated the sentiment that 'a vote for Stein is essentially a vote for Trump.'