New ‘insulting’ Harris ad target’s Black men’s love lives
A new advertisement from the Harris campaign depicts a Black man being rejected on a fictional dating show after he tells potentially interested suitors that he isn't voting.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released a new digital advertisement that targets Black men's love lives, insinuating that they will be rejected by women if they don’t have a plan to vote.
The ads depict a dating game in which a Black man approaches a group of women who are holding balloons. They begin to ask him questions about himself, including how much he makes, how tall he is and whether he works out.
The man’s answers get seemingly positive responses from the women, until one asks him if he has a plan to vote in November.
"Nah, not my thing," the man says, prompting all the women in the scene to pop their balloons.
"Vote. Election Day is Nov 5," reads a message at the end of the ad alongside a Harris-Walz campaign logo.
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"New Harris/Walz ad tells black men that women will reject them if they don’t vote," Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology President Richard Hanania remarked in a post on X along with a video of the ad. "Memorable and works as an appeal to self-interest."
But not all users were sold on the content of the ad, with some arguing that the ad only served to "insult" and "dehumanize" Black men.
"Democrats continue to dehumanize and insult black men and try to shame and pressure them into only voting for them," one user wrote. "Kamala campaign doesn’t even try to engage respectfully."
"Does the Harris Walz team really believe this will convince anyone to vote for them?" asked another.
"Belittling and insulting," another user added.
"I think this might have the opposite effect," one user quipped.
The ad comes as some have begun to speculate that Harris is struggling to win over the support of young Black men, a typically dependable demographic of voters for Democrats.
According to one Howard University Initiative on Public Opinion poll, 81% of Black men say they plan to vote for Harris, though that number drops to 68% for Black men under 50 years old, with 21% of that group indicating they plan to support former President Trump.
Former President Barack Obama has also joined in on the recent appeal to Black men, arguing at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month that the group should have the same enthusiasm for Harris as they did for his campaigns in 2008 and 2012.
"My understanding, based on reports I'm getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running," Obama said at the time, adding that the lack of enthusiasm "seems to be more pronounced with the brothers" and that they might not want to support a female president.
"And you are thinking about sitting out?" he said. "Part of it makes me think – and I'm speaking to men directly – part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that."
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
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