An ad from the Common Good PAC, approved by Kamala Harris’s campaign and narrated by actress Julia Roberts, has stirred controversy by encouraging women to hide their votes from their husbands.
In the ad, two women are shown heading to the voting booth alongside their husbands, exchanging knowing smiles as they prepare to vote one way while planning to tell their husbands they voted another.
The ad implies that women might face pressure or conflict over their political choices within their marriages, presenting secrecy as a solution.
This message has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives and others who argue that marriage should be built on trust and honesty.
Among the critics is conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who called the ad “repulsive” and said it promotes dishonesty in marriage.
“Kamala Harris and her team believe that there’ll be millions of women that undermine their husbands and do so in a way that it’s not detectable in the polling,” Kirk said on a podcast with Megyn Kelly.
He called the campaign “nauseating,” seeing it as a symbol of what he views as a decline in American family values.
Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of Donald Trump and current supporter of Harris’s campaign, responded to Kirk’s critique by calling him a “twit” on social media.
“Listen to this twit make Donald Trump’s closing argument. Women, you know what to do. #VoteKamala,” Cheney wrote, dismissing Kirk’s concerns as unfounded.
Kirk believes the ad reinforces a stereotype that men would be intolerant of their wives voting differently, suggesting that it endorses division within marriages.
The idea of hiding votes from a spouse echoes a sentiment seen during Trump’s presidency when some progressive activists urged spouses to separate if they had political differences.
This notion—that romantic relationships can’t survive political disagreements—was promoted by some on the left, creating tension in households across the country.
The ad also hints at another political message: a woman’s right to choose.
It claims that “the polling place is the one place in America where women still have the right to choose,” alluding to debates over reproductive rights, specifically in states that have enacted stricter abortion regulations.
By tying the issue of voting secrecy to reproductive rights, the ad appeals to female voters who feel that both their political and personal choices are under threat.
Notably, the Lincoln Project, a prominent anti-Trump group, also released an ad with a similar theme.
This ad encouraged women to keep their political leanings a secret from Trump-supporting spouses, even suggesting that former First Lady Melania Trump would vote for Harris if given the chance.
The Lincoln Project’s ad plays on the idea that women might reject Trump privately while outwardly appearing supportive of their conservative spouses.
Critics argue that these ads undermine trust within marriage and promote dishonesty for political gain, framing Harris’s campaign as willing to compromise the sanctity of family relationships.
Supporters, however, view the ad as empowering, framing it as a call to women to make their voices heard regardless of potential household opposition.
As Election Day approaches, the debate around these ads reflects deeper societal divisions over how politics should interact with personal relationships.
