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Controversial ad shows wives secretly voting for Harris, sparking backlash


Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Jenison Field House on the campus of Michigan State University, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Jenison Field House on the campus of Michigan State University, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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A new political video showcasing women voting for Vice President Kamala Harris without telling their husbands hit a nerve for some prominent conservatives and highlighted the growing national gender gap in the presidential election.

The ad created by Vote Common Good, a nonprofit organization aimed at influencing religiously motivated voters, is voiced by actress Julia Roberts and reminds women "You can vote any way you want and no one will ever know."

In the video, you see two women about to enter the polling booth after their husbands and making eye contact before filling out their ballots for Harris.

The women then leave the booth to meet with their husbands who presumably voted for former President Donald Trump.

One of the husbands asks, "Did you make the right choice?"

"Sure did, honey," the wife responds before sharing a knowing glance with the woman beside her and smiling.

A recent CBS YouGov Poll from Oct. 23-25 found that 55% of women and 45% of men supported Vice President Kamala Harris, while 54% of men and 43% of women supported Trump.

Doug Pagitt, the executive director of Vote Common Good, told NBC Newsthat the attention to the online ad means it tapped into an experience familiar to many households.

So many people in that world that I come from, and the subsequent political world around it, believe that women’s responsibility first and foremost in voting is not to have their own voice," Pagitt said. "It’s to replicate what their husband tells them.

During a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he was "so disappointed" in Julia Roberts and called the video "ridiculous."

"I mean, can you imagine a wife not telling her husband who she’s voting for?" Trump said. "Even if you have a horrible, if you had a bad relationship, you’re going to tell your husband."

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk spoke with Megyn Kelly about the ad and called it "demented" and a form of "marital subversion."

"I want everyone to understand that if you're on the fence about voting, Kamala Harris wants to get power so badly she wants to turn wives against husbands, and think that's like, cool and does a television advertisement against it," Kirk said.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also joined in on the backlash suggesting that Democrats are telling wives to lie to their husbands.

What kind of a totally amoral, corrupt, sick system have the Democrats developed?” he told Fox News.

The ad also aligns with a grassroots campaign spreading on social media with women putting pro-Kamala Harris messages on sticky notes and leaving them wherever other women may see them -- bathroom stalls, mirrors, the gym and even the back of tampon boxes.

One message shared with NBC News reads: "Woman to woman: No one sees your vote at the polls. Vote Harris/Walz."

Women from across the country said it was a way for them to become politically involved without facing backlash in Republican-dominated areas.

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