The Harris campaign tried to get under former President Donald Trump’s skin ahead of Tuesday’s debate by releasing an ad that mocks his fixation on crowd sizes.
Titled “Crowd Size,” the 30-second ad features former President Barack Obama talking about Mr. Trump at the Democratic National Convention.
“Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems …,” Mr. Obama says before the ad cuts to Mr. Trump at one of his rallies.
“Ooh, she had a big crowd! Ooh, that crowd,” Mr. Trump says with derision.
Vice President Kamala Harris drew large crowds in the days after she took over the Democratic ticket for President Biden and selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Mr. Trump often uses the massive crowds at his rallies as a barometer for his public support in general.
Earlier in the race, he accused Ms. Harris of using artificial intelligence to create photos of her crowd at a rally in a Detroit hangar.
“This weird obsession with crowd sizes … it just goes on, and on, and on,” Mr. Obama says in the ad, his hands narrowing and widening in front of him. “America’s ready for a new chapter. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”
The ad is designed to rankle Mr. Trump ahead of the presidential debate in Philadelphia.
The Harris team pointed to a recent New York Times analysis that found Ms. Harris tends to draw crowds that are comparable to or even larger than Mr. Trump’s.
One day earlier, the Harris campaign released an ad highlighting former Vice President Mike Pence and other officials who worked for Mr. Trump but now think he is unfit to lead.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is expected to attack Ms. Harris during the debate by pointing to her record during the Biden presidency.
He is likely to fault her over issues such as unchecked illegal migration, price inflation and the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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