With the presidential election only days away, Vice President Kamala Harris has released a pair of new ads to appeal to Black men. One ad attempts to spotlight her work on criminal justice reform, while the other targets what the Harris-Walz campaign says are the dangers from a second Donald Trump presidency.
The ad, titled “Second Chances,” depicts a pastor and youth leader named Carl speaking to a group of young Black men in North Philadelphia about recidivism. Carl is a formerly incarcerated man, and in the ad, he speaks about “Back On Track,” a program that Harris implemented as District Attorney in California to help first-time nonviolent offenders rebuild their lives and avoid incarceration. The Harris-Walz campaign cites “Back On Track” as “one of the first reentry initiatives in the country,” and in the ad, Carl says that the program proves that Harris is “a leader who has an ounce of humanity.”
NPR Code Switch reported that “Back On Track” provided first-time nonviolent offenders who pleaded guilty with internships, counseling, job preparation, and other resources, and expunged the felony from the records of those who completed the program.
Mass incarceration has been a longstanding issue that impacts Black men, and there are loads of stats to prove it. The NAACP states that “one out of every three Black boys born today can expect to be sentenced to prison,” compared to one of six Latino boys and one of 17 white boys. But Harris’ role as part of that system has led some critics to believe that she’s contributed to the problem more than she’s combatted it; her campaign hopes that this ad can prove her efforts to address inequities in the system.
The Harris-Walz campaign’s other ad, “Unthinkable,” labels Trump as an “unhinged president,” and cites the report by The Atlantic in which Trump said, in a private conversation, that he wanted “the kind of generals that [Adolf] Hitler had.” It also continues to connect Trump with Project 2025 — the controversial political initiative published by a conservative think tank called Heritage Foundation — and says that he would give police full immunity. Such protections, the ad says, would allow cops “to harass us, harm us, or worse, with no consequences.” It also targets Trump’s recent promises to combat “enemies from within” as president. “We know who he’s talking about,” the ad says.
Trump has denied any connection with Project 2025, but CNN reported that at least 140 people who have worked for him are involved with the initiative. His campaign website expresses plans to return to “stop and frisk,” a policing measure which studies show disproportionately targeted Black men in New York City before it was ruled unconstitutional in 2013. He has also said that police should have “immunity from prosecution.”
The two ads continue Harris’ effort to connect with Black male voters. The vice president has also released what she calls an Opportunity Agenda for Black Men, and has appeared on a bevy of Black media outlets over the past couple of months.
Terrance Woodbury, a pollster for the Harris-Walz 2024 campaign, provided a statement to The Root about its plans for the two new ads.
“Recent polling shows that the Harris-Walz campaign is continuing to grow its momentum among late-deciding Black voters. This ad will build on that momentum by driving home a message about the clear and present danger that a 2nd Trump term would mean to Black communities,” Woodbury said. “Trump’s plans in Project 2025, including blanket police immunity, are disqualifying to Black men that were either undecided or considering supporting Trump. Voters in the Black community know what’s at stake — and our polls and focus groups have shown that these proof points will further drive home the message for late deciding and infrequent Black voters to take action and support the Harris-Walz ticket.”
Stay tuned to The Root for more updates on the 2024 presidential election.