Harris campaign ramps up 'crazy, unstable' attack on Trump in new ad

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris' campaign will launch a television ad Thursday aimed at linking the three words the Vice President has used lately to describe Donald Trump — bumbling, unstable and uncontrolled — with the political implications that the Voters could see if the former president returns to office.

The 30-second spot, which will air in all battleground states, argues that Trump would “ignore all controls that limit a president's power,” according to details first shared with NBC News. It calls Project 2025, the conservative blueprint that the GOP candidate tried to distance himself from after criticism. Polls show Democrats have managed to make the proposal, drawn up by a right-wing think tank, unpopular.

The Harris campaign has increasingly sought to link Trump's recent behavior and comments to questions about his mental capacity and his refusal to release current medical records.

“You have to ask yourself: What is Donald Trump trying to hide? What does his staff and his team want to hide from you?” Harris said in a media interview this week after her White House doctor shared a letter saying she was in “excellent health.”

The Trump campaign points out that a doctor issued a statement about his health a year ago, but it lacked certain specific details. Trump has not provided any medical records. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a doctor who treated Trump as president, also released a letter about his injury during a failed assassination attempt.

The new Harris ad, titled “Total Power,” is part of the campaign's effort to convince voters that Trump is “unfit” for office through a comprehensive strategy using his own words and actions used, including his recent comments about an “enemy from within.” when discussing his critics and detractors.

On Monday, Harris played a montage of Trump's words on the issue for the first time at one of her rallies, calling him “increasingly unstable and unhinged.”

Harris' campaign officials have conducted internal research showing that portraying Trump as “unstable” in contrast to Harris is a powerful communication tool for the persuasive voters they most desperately want to reach in the final days of the campaign.

The ad claims that a Trump presidency would lead to “higher food costs, cuts to Social Security and Medicare, more tax breaks for billionaires, and a nationwide ban on abortion, endangering women's health.”

It concludes: “A second Trump term: even more unhinged, unstable and uncontrolled.” The purchase is part of Democrats' ongoing $370 million campaign against paid media in the closing stages of the election.

Trump's campaign responded to the ad by saying he was a “simple speaker” who spoke on issues such as the economy and immigration.

“Unhinged is the way Kamala Harris is opening our borders to unchecked criminals, endangering the safety of Americans,” said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to Trump. “What is faltering is their support for economic policies that have made life unaffordable for Americans and for trade policies that favor foreign workers over America’s working men and women.”

The Harris campaign debuted a digital ad this month calling Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance an “extremist” and warning that he “could be just a heartbeat away from the presidency” if Trump wins, a first is that the Democrats are going after Trump in paid media at his age.