On the stump, the presidential campaign is turning into a battle of the big screens.
Former President Donald Trump often shows up at his rallies with a video screen in tow. He spends a striking amount of time showing clips of Vice President Kamala Harris saying politically inopportune things, such as complaining about immigration enforcement or failing to distance herself from President Biden.
Mr. Trump also intersperses news clips about illegal immigration and warnings about the Democrats’ “woke” agenda.
Ms. Harris, meanwhile, rolls out footage of Mr. Trump boasting about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and suggesting he would use the U.S. military to punish his “enemy from within,” political opponents.
The choice to give their opponents’ words high billing at their respective rallies reflects the state of the race and the driving factor of fear in voters’ minds.
“Everywhere you look, the American standard of living is in a free-fall,” Mr. Trump said at a recent event in Atlanta. “You are working more hours for less money to afford smaller houses, worse cars, fewer groceries with absolutely nothing left to save.”
“Our schools don’t teach. Our cities aren’t safe. Illegal aliens are pouring in by the millions and millions, and we are teetering on the brink of World War III,” Mr. Trump said.
He also gets personal with Ms. Harris, calling her a “liar,” “not a smart person” and “grossly incompetent.”
For her part, the vice president found that her early campaign’s good-vibe message of “joy” had a pretty low ceiling. As she seeks to win over reluctant voters, she has used the same voter-scare tactics as Mr. Trump.
She says his “unhinged” behavior led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and calls him a threat to the Constitution and families.
“He considers any American who doesn’t support him or bend to his will to be an enemy to our country, and further, he says as commander and chief he would use our military to go after them,” Ms. Harris said at a recent rally. “It is clear Donald Trump is increasingly unstable.”
The Democratic nominee has often urged non-Republican voters to watch one of Mr. Trump’s rallies to learn about his plans. Now she is making voters watch Mr. Trump at her own rallies.
Ms. Harris rolled out the video screen for the first time at a recent campaign stop in Pennsylvania, where she showed Mr. Trump complaining about political opponents he sees as the “enemy from within.”
And in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this week, she showed footage of Mr. Trump saying that most people were happy Roe was overturned and dubbing himself the “father of IVF.”
“I mean, what does that even mean?” Ms. Harris said. “What is sadly interesting, I think, is that when you listen to Donald Trump talk, it becomes increasingly clear, I think, he has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to the health care of women in America.”
Mr. Trump in Atlanta used clips of the screaming drill sergeant in the movie “Full Metal Jacket” interspersed with clips of Rachel Levine, the transgender admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, celebrating gay pride and men in military uniform donning drag outfits.
Mr. Trump’s rallies often run longer than an hour, and he holds the stage like the master of ceremonies in a pro wrestling ring, egging on his crowd.
The videos are just a part of that.
He takes the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” but doesn’t start speaking until the song — which has become a MAGA anthem — ends.
He frequently invites fellow Republican officeholders and members of the crowd on stage. He shouts out to the regulars, including a man in a brick-wall-decorated jacket and a group of women who follow him around the country.
He cracks jokes, making fun of Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris and liberal ideas. He can also be self-deprecating.
The GOP nominee bounces between reading off the teleprompter and speaking more extemporaneously, zigzagging between subjects.
He dubs his delivery “the weave.”
He touts his backing from Elon Musk and the union for Border Patrol agents and the Fraternal Order of Police.
He also celebrates his myriad proposals for tax breaks on tipped wages, overtime pay and auto loan interest.
Ms. Harris’ rallies usually run shorter than Mr. Trump’s.
They are more standard and scripted — more pep rally than monster truck rally. She describes herself as the underdog and touches on her past as a prosecutor. She has recently campaigned with businessman Mark Cuban and anti-Trump Republicans, and has events planned with former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.
She has also shown signs of loosening up on stage.
At a recent rally in Wisconsin, Ms. Harris told a group of demonstrators, “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally.”
“No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street,” she said, triggering applause from the crowd.
She devotes time to her policy agenda, which includes pledges to bring down the cost of living, invest in small businesses, enshrine access to legal abortion and advance national security. She has also promised tax breaks for the middle class, expanded Medicare to cover the cost of senior care, and expanded the child tax credit.
Her primary focus, however, has been tarnishing Mr. Trump.
She argues that those who have worked closely with him — including former Vice President Mike Pence — say he is unfit to serve.
She said that if he were elected, Mr. Trump would “sit in the Oval Office plotting retribution, stewing in his own grievances and thinking only about himself and not you.”
”He is only focused on himself. Well, folks, it is time to turn the page,” she said. “America is ready to chart a new way forward, and America is ready for a new and optimistic generation of leadership.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.