How Trump Campaign Won Branding War To Define Harris

By John Brabender

November 08, 2024

Published by RealClear Politics

Early on, the Trump campaign's messaging plan was clear. Position the race as between two Presidents with four-year records and ask voters if they are better off now than they were four years ago. Is your personal economy better? Does your family feel safer? Is America's strength still keeping the world at peace?

Then, the debate happened. Immediately, it became apparent that the Democrats would never let Biden's name appear anywhere near a voting booth. This not only fundamentally changed the race, but it also provided substantial messaging challenges for both campaigns. And the messaging battle quickly transitioned into which side could effectively define Kamala Harris the quickest.

Some post-mortems concluded that Harris only having a few months to introduce herself was a huge disadvantage. I believe it was a remarkable advantage. Harris was given the ability to be introduced as a fresh alternative unburdened by the Biden past. Her campaign also had 1 billion dollars to support her introduction. One billion!

The Harris campaign correctly understood how to position her: as a new generation of leadership. A fresh start for America. With a heavy focus on the economy, highlighting big tax breaks for the middle class and small businesses. A populist centrist! They just needed to convince the left that winning the election was more important than winning over ideological converts. Our job was to prove this wasn't reality.

From the Trump campaign's Messaging and Media team's perspective, two things needed to be accomplished. And fast. First, don't allow Harris to get away with acting like an innocent bystander to the Biden record. We needed to effectively establish that Harris was an accomplice regarding the economy, the border, and Afghanistan.

Second, use her record as San Francisco's DA and a U.S. senator to establish that Harris is not only radically liberal but that her actions hurt real people. A considerable priority was also placed on using Harris' own words to prove just how left she is. And the Trump campaign's ultimate success in doing this was a massive factor in why Harris performed so poorly among key targeted audiences on Election Day.

For example, our very first ad defining Harris centered on an interview she did on NBC promoting her efforts on the border. When Lester Holt noted that Harris had never even gone to the border, Harris froze and then bizarrely responded that she also hadn't been to Europe and didn't understand Holt's point. Game on.

We used Harris' own words to rapidly establish her positions on Bidenomics, fracking, electric vehicle mandates, gun rights, and immigration. Harris also gave us a gift when she admitted on "The View" that she couldn't think of one thing she would have done differently than Biden. Thanks again.

The most devastating ad featuring our favorite spokesperson, created by another consultant on the Trump Message and Media team, featured Harris detailing her support for taxpayer-funded sex change operations for prison inmates. Clearly the power of Harris saying this on camera was essential to the believability and success of the ad.

The Trump campaign also relied heavily on stories from real people shared in paid media, social media, and live events. We gave them an enormous megaphone; they did the rest. The two best examples are the Gold Star Families of the soldiers killed in the botched Afghanistan pullout. And the mother of 12-year-old Joselyn Nungaray. According to police records, Joselyn was brutally raped and killed by illegals coming across our border. Their raw emotions in telling their stories and articulating criticisms of Harris were more potent than anything we could write.

President Trump's brand was developed over a lifetime, living almost daily in the public's eye. The Trump campaign could do very little to impact it. For all practical purposes, the Harris brand was established over three months, and the results made it clear who won that battle.

John Brabender is chief strategic and creative officer at BrabenderCox, a Republican media consulting firm.