Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.(Photos: Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images; Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
During the penultimate weekend of the 2024 presidential race, both campaigns are playing games. Or rather, trying to reach gamers on Twitch and football fans in Pennsylvania’s two largest cities.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has a television ad slated to run during the third quarter of today’s Philadelphia Eagles game. The ad, titled “Never Quit,” focuses on Trump’s economic record and touches on some familiar themes from his campaign, blaming the Biden administration for inflation and claiming an illegal immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border.
The ad features footage of Trump being shot at during a July rally in Butler, and pumping his fist at the crowd while saying “fight, fight, fight.” Other than that, however, there is little Pennsylvania-specific about the two-minute spot, which includes snippets of speeches from this summer’s Republican National Convention praising the former president, and a voiceover from Trump himself.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign also has a TV ad running during the Eagles game, titled “Philly vs. Trump,” which includes footage of Trump saying “Bad things happen in Philadelphia” during a 2020 debate. “They don’t like us, we don’t care,” the voiceover states, “And when you fight us, we fight back. From 1776 to 4th and 26, so go ahead, talk whatever s–t you want Donald. We’re voting soon. And when it comes to freedom, Philly is undefeated.”
A second Harris campaign ad will run during Monday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers game, titled “Yinzer,” with a man named Chris who describes himself as a diehard Steelers fan. “Donald Trump does not care about the working man whatsoever. He’s a little rich kid too, he ain’t me,” Chris says. “Little silver spoon boy Donald Trump. How is he relatable to me whatsoever? The guy literally lives in a country club. Do I look like a country club kind of guy?”
In addition to trying to reach football fans in Pennsylvania, the Harris campaign is seeking to reach the gamer audience on Sunday afternoon, when Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will face off against U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in a game of Madden NFL on a Twitch live stream.
Democrats have used billboards and airplane flyovers at Pennsylvania sporting events to taunt Trump ahead of various appearances in Pennsylvania; when he attended a Steelers game last Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Democratic National Committee posted a billboard across from Acrisure Stadium bashing Trump for his economic record.