The power of effective advertising may have been enough to push the needle at the last minute for President Trump.



An ad created by the Trump campaign after his September debate with Vice President Harris attacked the Democratic candidate’s stance on transgender policies — specifically, her previous support for funding surgeries for transgender inmates in prison, according to a report from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/us/politics/trump-win-election-harris.html">the New York Times</a>.



“Every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access,” she said in a clip from a 2019 used in the ad, which ended with a direct and pointed tagline: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”



The Times reports that even Trump campaign staffers were stunned by the commercial’s bluntness.



Funding was poured into distribution efforts for the spot, with it airing over the final two months of the campaign during football games. The ad raised the ire of popular radio show host Charlamagne Tha God, who complained about it during his show “The Breakfast Club.”



Charlamagne’s response provided even more fodder for the Trump campaign, which used clips of his complaints in a second 30-second ad that ranked as one of the most effective spots for Trump.



The “they/them” ads were a direct summation of Trump’s argument against Ms. Harris — that she was “dangerously liberal.” The ads tested well, not only with Black and Latino men but also moderate white women in the suburbs who were concerned about athletes who transitioned participating in girls’ sports, according to Trump campaign officials.



The Harris campaign and Democrats never really responded to the venomous ads. The Times reports that President Clinton told the campaign they needed to respond; they assured him then that the Trump ads were not having any negative effect. 



However, Future Forward, the leading super PAC for Ms. Harris found in their own analysis that the race had shifted 2.7 percentage points in Trump’s favor after viewers watched it.



“We have to answer it and say we won’t do it,” Mr. Clinton told an associate after seeing the ad. Bowing to transgender activists in the Democratic camp, the Harris campaign never did.

A screenshot of an ad aired by the Trump campaign before the election.

The TV Ad That May Have Moved the Needle Toward Trump in Campaign’s Waning Days

Controversial transgender-focused commercials resonated with key voter groups, and the Harris campaign failed to respond.

The TV Ad That May Have Moved the Needle Toward Trump in Campaign's Waning Days | The New York Sun

Home

The TV Ad That May Have Moved the Needle Toward Trump in Campaign&#8217;s Waning Days

The New York Sun

https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/the-new-york-sun-og.jpg

Jen Psaki's new primetime show debuted Tuesday on MSNBC.

Jen Psaki’s New MSNBC Show Has a Bumpy Start as She’s Accused of Making ‘Obviously False’ Claim That She Never Noticed Biden’s Decline

This undated image shows the former acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon.

Biden-Era Prosecutors Accused of ‘Deception’ —  and Targeting Republicans — in Breaking Plea Deal With Sam Bankman-Fried’s Top Lieutenant

Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer, left, and journalist Megan Kelly, attend a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Consternation Broils in MAHA and MAGA Worlds Over Trump’s ‘Woo-Woo’ Surgeon General Pick

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025.

To Cheers of the Faithful the ‘Least American of the Americans,’ Pope Leo XIV, Accedes to Throne of St. Peter

President Trump signs an executive order at the White House, April 8, 2025.

Trump’s ‘Skinny Budget’ Features Impressive Cuts, but Fails To Confront the Drivers of America’s Fiscal Crisis

President Trump shakes hands with President Putin after their meeting at the Presidential Palace, Helsinki, July 16, 2018.

The Subtle Magic of Trump’s Dealmaking Skills on Full Display in Ukraine Peace Negotiations

Jeanine Pirro attends FOX Nation's 2024 Patriot Awards at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on December 5, 2024 in Greenvale, New York. 

Trump Names Fox News’s Jeanine Pirro as Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. After Dropping Controversial Pick

The newly elected pope, Leo XIV, left, appears on the central loggia of St. Peter's, May 8, 2025.

The TV Ad That May Have Moved the Needle Toward Trump in Campaign’s Waning Days

To continue reading, please select:

Enter your email to read for FREE

Join the Sun for a PENNY A DAY

Sections

More

Sign in or create a free account

A login link has been sent to