Kamala Harris has been warned against calling former President Donald Trump a fascist, with the leading Super PAC supporting the Democratic nominee saying that it’s not getting through to voters.
Future Forward argued in an email circulated among Democrats that focusing too narrowly on the Republican’s character would be a mistake, even after Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly said last week that he “falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
Harris and her campaign have used his comments to argue to voters that Trump cannot be trusted with the presidency.
Future Forward said in the email that focusing on Trump’s character and using the fascist label was not as persuasive as other messages, according to The New York Times.
The email, known as Doppler and which is regularly sent out, stated in bold that “Attacking Trump’s Fascism Is Not That Persuasive.”
“‘Trump Is Exhausted’ Isn’t Working,” another message stated.
The Doppler emails have been sent out every week for months, and with increased frequency recently, sharing messaging advice with Democrats and the results of the PAC’s testing of social media clips and posts.
The Friday message stated that Democrats should instead push information about Harris’s agenda, specifically about her economic plans and support for reproductive rights.
“Purely negative attacks on Trump’s character are less effective than contrast messages that include positive details about Kamala Harris’s plans to address the needs of everyday Americans,” the email said.
Future Forward President Chauncey McLean told The Times: “Don’t over-read this.”
“This is just one of our regular emails sharing testing results from thousands of pieces of earned and social media content,” she added. “It shows people that the most effective way of using Trump’s words and behavior is tying them to consequences in voters’ lives. That’s what Kamala Harris does every day by comparing her to-do list with his enemies list, for example.”
Harris campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon appeared on MSNBC on Sunday, arguing that it’s impactful when people who have been close to Trump speak out against him.
“We know anecdotally, we know from our research when someone like John Kelly stands up and speaks about what it was like to serve under Donald Trump, speaks about how he clearly wants unchecked power,” she said.
She added: “The American people are not comfortable with that.”
The email noted that Harris’s response during a CNN town hall event to Kelly’s comments was in “the 40th percentile on average for moving vote choice.” This means that it doesn’t do as much to move voter choices as other messages.
Meanwhile, a clip of Harris telling radio host Howard Stern that she would have Medicare cover in-home care for the elderly tested in the 95th percentile, according to the email cited by The Times.
“Focusing on Trump’s disturbing, ludicrous and outlandish behavior can be an effective lead-in to talking about substantive policy, but is not effective at moving vote choice on its own,” the email said.
