Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign this week began trying to persuade a surprising group of voters: Fox News viewers.

• The Harris campaign began running four spots yesterday on the network, a Fox News spokesperson confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: While Fox News is known for its conservative coverage, its viewers — particularly during the daytime — are more ideologically diverse, and the Harris team wants to reach them.

• The ads are largely positive about Harris' life, a sharp contrast with the network's often-critical programming about her.
• The Biden campaign ran Fox News ads in 2023 to counterprogram the first GOP primary debate, as Semafor reported.

The big picture: The new buy is part of a much larger, more expensive battle between the Harris and Trump campaigns to define Harris in the first weeks after she became the Democratic nominee.

• The vast majority of the ads are about Harris as the Trump team tries to blunt her momentum and the Harris team is attempting to keep it going, according to an Axios review.

Zoom in: "Kamala Harris knows what it's like to be middle class," the narrator says in one ad about Harris' upbringing.

• In an attempt to draw a comparison with the former president, the narrator adds that "Donald Trump has no plan to help the middle class."

What they're saying: The Harris campaign directed Axios to a memo from senior leadership earlier this week about its large ad buy in August.

• "It is precisely through efforts like this that we will break through a crowded media environment early and make clear the choice and stakes of this election for the voters who will decide it," principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said.

By the numbers: From July 21, when President Biden dropped out, through Labor Day on Sept. 2, both campaigns are set to spend over $300 million on TV and digital ads, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

• The Harris team — including outside super PACs — has spent or has reservations for $96 million in TV ads across that date range compared to $146 million booked by Trump's team.
• With the introduction of Harris, both teams are spending far more in August than they did in 2020.

Share this story

Vice President Harris' economic package tomorrow will include a proposal to provide up to $25,000 in down payment support for first-time homeowners, ABC News reported this evening.

• Why it matters: Middle-class voters, a huge prize, are housing-starved. But it's hard to see how this plan would affect prices and availability in a meaningful way.

Between the lines: Harris' plan could spike demand and drive home prices even higher, Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck tells me.

• The down payment support would give far more people the ability to purchase, increasing the number of buyers competing for houses.

The details: Harris will call for the construction of 3 million new housing units by the end of 2028, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• That's up from the 2 million proposed by the Biden administration.
• Neither's plan could address interest rates that are controlled by the Federal Reserve.

Go deeper: Trump goes big on tax cut promises in Harris prebuttal

The return of Corey Lewandowski and addition of four other recent hires is a potentially volatile addition to Trump's collegial inner circle, Axios' Sophia Cai reports.

• Lewandowski, who managed Trump's 2016 campaign, will be a senior adviser, a campaign official told Axios. His hiring was first reported by Politico.
• Alex Pfeiffer, Tim Murtaugh, Taylor Budowich and Alex Bruesewitz are also joining the campaign, Axios has confirmed.
• Lewandowski was removed as chair of a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021 after a donor accused him of making unwanted sexual advances and inappropriately touching her at a Las Vegas charity event.

"[T]heir unmatched experience will help President Trump prosecute the case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical ticket in American history," Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement.

Biden today: "Let me tell you what our Project 2025 is ... beat the hell out of 'em."

• "The guy we're running against, what's his name? Donald Dump," Biden said.

Biden on Trump in 2018: "They asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said no. I said, 'If we were in high school, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him."