First appearance on FOX: Vice President Kamala Harris’ stance on the southern border crisis is likely to hurt lower-ranking Democratic candidates in the November election. Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kali Lake is warning of Republican attacks in battleground states after the Democratic slate was shuffled.
“Ruben Gallego and Kamala Harris: Bad for the border. Bad for Arizona. Bad for America,” a narrator says in the first ad for Lake’s general election campaign, overlaid with footage of Harris embracing Rep. Ruben Gallego, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Arizona.
The video also harshly criticizes Gallego’s record of voting 100% in favor of Biden and Harris during the 117th Congress in 2021-2022. Five Thirty Eight.
Republicans slam Biden over Israeli weapons delay: ‘Stop pandering to Iran’
The ad is part of a $10 million advertising booking Lake announced in May.
Ruben Gallego is linked to Kamala Harris at the border. (Getty Images)
Harris said in the video that the US should not treat people who “cross our borders” as “criminals.” The footage was taken during a 2019 appearance on “The View,” during which she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
“I’m not going to support a border wall that we don’t need,” Gallego said in a follow-up video, the Arizona Democrat said on CNN in 2018.
‘No Kings’ Act: Schumer pushes Biden Supreme Court reform with bill to strip Trump of immunity
In the next clip, Harris is asked by a CNN anchor whether she supports calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to which she responds, “Maybe we need to consider starting from scratch.”
“I think there’s no question that we need to critically reexamine ICE and its role, how it’s managed and what it does,” the senator said at the time before his 2018 remarks.
‘Dangerous message’: Top Republican expresses concern about trading Americans for ‘real Russian criminals’
The border and immigration issues are the biggest issues heading into the election. (James Breeden for the New York Post/Mega)
The ad then plays a clip of Rep. Gallego calling former President Trump’s proposed border wall “stupid” and “dumb” during a House floor speech in 2017. He had criticized the Trump administration for trying to use military construction funds to continue construction on the wall while construction has been stalled by Congress.
“Ruben Gallego is a Marine combat veteran and his top priority is securing the border and keeping Arizonans safe. That’s why he’s working tirelessly to hire more Border Patrol agents, fix our broken asylum system, crack down on fentanyl trafficking and invest in proven technology to strengthen border security,” a campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“Kari Lake, on the other hand, is a power-hungry liar who will do and say anything to get power, even if it means opposing a bipartisan pro-Border Patrol bill that would finally address the border crisis.”
Kamala Harris accused of promoting IRA funding for ‘anti-American’ groups
Ruben Gallego, Arizona Democrat (Getty Images)
Harris’ campaign quoted Fox News Digital as citing Harris’ remarks at a recent rally in Georgia, where she vowed to tell the crowd, “As president, I will restore the border security bill that Donald Trump killed and sign it into law, showing Donald Trump what true leadership looks like.”
President Trump has been accused by many of killing a bipartisan negotiated border security bill and preventing it from gaining the support it needed to move forward. But Senate Republicans have pushed back, suggesting some elements of the bill are not feasible. When the bill came up for a test vote in May, two of the three negotiators, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), rejected it.
Harris has been criticized for not visiting the border. (Alison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)
Lake similarly argued that the bill would not secure the border and is a “total travesty.”
Gallego said he would have supported a bill negotiated on a bipartisan basis and criticized Lake for his opposition.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Lake formally won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday, defeating Sheriff Mark Lamb. Gallego ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Incumbent Sinema announced earlier this year that she would not seek reelection. She was first elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 2018 but switched parties in 2022.
The Arizona Senate race is rated a “Democrat Win” by nonpartisan political handicappers. Cook Political ReportIn Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, incumbent Democratic senators Tammy Baldwin and Bob Casey are facing tough races.
Get the latest 2024 election campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
