New Harris Ad Features Decisive Debate Moment When Harris Held Trump Accountable for Overturning Roe v. Wade
Ad Launches as Trump Campaigns in Arizona and Nevada, Two States With Abortion Referendums on the Ballot
Abortion was the Most-Searched Topic During the Debate and the Exchange the Key Takeaway Moment for Voters
In its second ad featuring moments from this week’s presidential debate, the Harris campaign zeroes in on the moment during the debate when things started to go bad for Donald Trump where Vice President Kamala Harris held Trump accountable for overturning Roe v. Wade – and explained to the nearly 70 million Americans watching at home the horrific consequences of that action. While Trump bragged about ripping away women’s reproductive rights, saying, “I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it, and the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it,” Vice President Harris delivered a powerful rebuke, citing the devastating health effects that Trump abortion bans are having all over the country.
The ad, called “Wanted,” comes as Trump heads to Arizona and Nevada to campaign. These two states both face referendum votes to enshrine reproductive freedom in their state constitutions this November – emphasizing the stakes in this election on this issue.
Tuesday’s exchange between Vice President Harris and Donald Trump on reproductive freedom was the key takeaway moment for voters and according to Google was the most-searched topic in 49 of 50 states. In our campaign’s dial focus groups of battleground state undecided voters, Trump’s refusal to say he would veto a national abortion ban was one of his worst answers of the night. In contrast, those same voters rated Harris’ statement that “the government and Trump should not be telling a woman what to do with her body” highly.
“Trump’s disastrous abortion bans are denying women basic health care and forcing survivors of rape and incest to carry their pregnancies to term, and Vice President Harris held Donald Trump’s feet to the fire on the debate stage,” said Harris-Walz Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. “The Vice President made it clear that Trump’s cruel bans are not what the American people ‘wanted,’ and that she believes ‘the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body should not be made by the government.’ This is one of the top issues in this election, and the difference between the candidates could not be clearer.”
Following the first ad released Wednesday, “Leadership,” this second ad continues the campaign’s aggressive strategy to highlight key moments from Harris’ commanding debate win directly to voters.
“Wanted” comes as Vice President Harris heads to North Carolina to kick off her New Way Forward tour, an aggressive travel swing across the battleground states that will decide this election. The Vice President’s visit coincides with the Fighting for Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour, which has hosted events across North Carolina this week – a state where women are currently living under a Trump abortion ban.
This new ad will show voters across the battlegrounds what is at stake in November. While Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will restore the protections of Roe when Congress passes a bill to do so, Donald Trump and JD Vance will enact their dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control, create a national anti-abortion coordinator, force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions, and jeopardize access to IVF.
Part of Team Harris-Walz’s historic $370 million in digital and television advertising reservations between Labor Day and Election Day, “Wanted” will air on broadcast and cable TV across the battleground states.
LINSEY DAVIS: I want to turn to the issue of abortion.
DONALD TRUMP: For 52 years, they’ve been trying to get Roe v. Wade into the states.
I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it, and the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it.
VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS: I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about “this is what people wanted.”
Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room, because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail. And she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot.
She didn’t want that. Her husband didn’t want that.
A 12 or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term, they don’t want that.
I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body, should not be made by the government.
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