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Snapshot: A New Harris Ad Confronts the Danger

It sounds and feels like an emergency alert, to warn voters of Donald Trump's fascism and admiration of Hitler—and the need to vote

Steven Beschloss Oct 25

(Screenshot from new Harris campaign ad)

It’s hard to watch the new Harris campaign ad and not get nervous. I mean, physically nervous. The words. The pulsing, alarming, electric sound. The red text on a black screen. The words.

“An unprecedented warning,” the words begin, one after another, as if hammered out on a keyboard, “from Trump’s former chief of staff, a four-star Marine general.”

Then we hear the audio from Michael Schmidt’s interview with Gen. John Kelly published by The New York Times. The nervous, pulsing sound, which reminds of a national emergency alert, continues. And we see this:

We hear Kelly answer Schmidt’s question as images of Trump flash across the screen:

He certainly falls into the general definition of a fascist. It’s a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader. The former president—he is certainly an authoritarian. Using the military to go after American citizens is a very, very bad thing. He admires people who are dictators. He’s commented more than once that ‘Hitler did some good things, too.’

We see this as the pulsing continues:

Then we hear Schmidt’s question: “If he was left to his own devices would he be a dictator if he didn't have people around him?” And Kelly’s answer: “Oh, I think he'd love to be.”

Finally, we hear Trump’s own words: “When somebody's the president, the authority is total.” The word “total” begins to echo as this appears on the screen:

Unhinged. Unstable. In pursuit of unchecked power.

This 60-second ad concludes with the admonition “Vote November 5.” That and Kamala Harris saying “I approve this message.”

There’s a lot of talk in these last two weeks about “closing arguments” for the campaign. From VP Harris’ CNN town hall Wednesday night, I counted her using the word “fix” 15 times to underscore her pragmatic desire for finding solutions. And she didn’t mean, like her opponent has said, “I alone can fix it.” Talking about the broken immigration system, for example, she said, “We need a president who is grounded in common sense and practical outcomes. Let's just fix this thing. Let's just fix it.”

But the Harris campaign has wisely made the decision to turn up the heat against her dangerous opponent. And this ad—which has been released in both 60-second and 30-second versions for digital and television markets—provides a powerful closing statement about why Donald Trump should never again touch the levers of power.

No, it doesn’t quite reach the level of fear sought by the Lyndon Johnson campaign’s famous 1964 “Daisy” ad, in which a little girl tears off the petals of a daisy and counts to 10. This is before a mushroom cloud appears to warn voters of the potential of nuclear annihilation if Barry Goldwater were to win the presidency.

But this is not 1964, the electorate is not enmeshed in Cold War fears, and there are still far too many voters who have failed to grasp the danger of Trump retaking the White House. Titled “A Warning,” this new Harris campaign ad—a nervous-inducing alarm bell, aided by the words of Trump’s own chief of staff—will help.