Kamala Harris launches first presidential campaign ad: ‘We choose freedom’
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Kamala Harris has launched her first official campaign video as she vies to officially secure the Democratic presidential nomination and defeat Donald Trump – just days after Joe Biden announced he was abandoning his reelection bid.
The 59-year-old vice president’s campaign team launched the clip across her social media channels on Thursday morning.
Harris’ new video bookends a positive first five days on the campaign trail after she secured a record-breaking $81m fundraising haul in the first 24 hours of her run and garnered enough delegates to clinch the presumptive presidential nomination.
In the clip, the vice president’s grinning face explodes onto the screen before a cutaway to a fluttering American flag.
“In this election, we each face a question,” she says while Beyoncé’s 2016 hit Freedom – which the singer gave her blessing to be used as Harris’ official campaign anthem – plays in the background.
“What kind of country do we want to live in?”
The video portays a utopian vision of how harmonious life could become for Americans under the prospective Harris Administration. It remains upbeat throughout, carried by the pulsating beat of Beyoncé’s Grammy-nomiated song.
Since Sunday, Trump has switched his tact from attacking Biden to condemning Harris – with the pair already exchanging blows at rallies and on social media.
And within 11 seconds, the former president and his running mate become the target of the video.
“There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos. Of fear. Of hate,” she says, over clips of Trump and JD Vance filtered in a luminous red hue.
“But us, we choose something different,” Harris adds, as footage of crowds passionately chanting “Kamala” with placards adorning her name plays across the screen.
Harris exclaims “we choose freedom!” as Beyoncé’s hit reaches a crescendo with the singer belting out: “Freedom, freedom, I can’t move. Freedom cut me loose. Freedom, freedom where are you, cause I need freedom too.”
The campaign video goes into a montage showing multi-ethnic families, voters at rallies and middle-aged men waving the Pride flag, as it places a diverse pool of people and scenarios at its heart.
At one point is a closeup of a woman in a lab coat embroidered with the word “Obstetrics” – a reference to Harris’ stance to fight for abortion rights.
“The freedom not just to get by, but get ahead,” she continues.
“The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body,” with the asscertation complimented by a ‘Reproductive Freedom’ sign using a clip repurposed from the ‘Biden for President’ campaign.
“We choose a future where no child lives in poverty, where we can all afford healthcare. Where no one is above the law,” she adds.
Donald Trump once again bursts onto the screen, although, akin to Lord Voldermort, Harris’ narration never utters his name.
This time, it is in the form of his mugshot taken from the former president’s arrest last August – edited to make him look a more garish shade of orange.
With it are numerous newspapers’ headlines splashing his guilty verdict from the criminal hush trial money verdict in May.
“We believe in the promise of America and we’re ready to fight for it,” Harris adds.
“Because when we fight: we win!”
The video concludes with Beyoncé’s lyrics “I’ma keep running, ‘cause a winner doesn’t quit on themselves,” as a smiling Harris walks away applauding sporting a placid blue suit.
