Ranking: these are Trump's five most watched campaign ads in 2024

2024 was one of the most shocking presidential elections in recent years. From Joe Biden's retirement in July, the rise and fall of Kamala Harris, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and his historic election win to become only the second person to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. This election cycle had everything.

In terms of communication, both campaigns invested millions of dollars in political ads, particularly in key swing states. According to a report by AdImpact, this election cycle was "the most expensive ever recorded."

Aiming to spread a crafted and tele-targeted message to the most coveted voters through radio, television and digital media, the Harris campaign invested $1.16 billion in ads, while the Trump campaign invested $602 million. This data is from Statista and is current through September, so the projected spending is even higher.

On social media, the Democratic campaign concentrated most of its budget on Google, Facebook and Instagram, while the Republican campaign mostly bet on YouTube and Twitch.

The five most watched ads of Trump's campaign

When it comes to ranking the reception of Trump campaign ads, a good metric can be the number of views. At least on Donald Trump's YouTube channel, these were the five ads with the most views.

Only ads posted after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race were taken into account.

"I don't want"- 436,000 views

Oddly enough, the number five spot goes to the most effective ad of the Trump campaign. In an interview with Patrick Bet David  Charlie Kirk disclosed that three different studies concluded that it was the most effective ad of the Republican campaign in this election cycle.

"Because that ad struck a chord with Kamala Harris' weakness: she's a radical California ideologue who panders to foreigners, not Americans, with the wildest, most abstract ideas on the left."

"They only aired it on NFL football and the World Series and in male-dominated media. They didn't air it on lifetime. And that's why Donald Trump did historically well with young male voters," Kirk added.

This ad focused on one of Harris' statements during her first 2020 bid, in which she asserted that she was in favor of the government paying for sex change surgeries for inmates in various prisons.

The ad goes on to state that the Democrat was in favor of "biological men" competing in women's sports, closing with the following phrase: "Kamala is with them/them. President Trump is with you."

"Day One"- 501,000 views

This ad focused on attacking Harris for saying over and over again what she would do on her first day as president. "Kamala, day one was January 2021," JD Vance responds to her at the beginning of the video.

It is followed by several TV anchors spouting negative numbers about the economy, crime, inflation and the border crisis. The campaign even used a clip of Joe Scarborough from MSNBC.

"Where has she been, why didn't she do it before," Trump uttered at the end of the just over a minute-long ad.

"Kamala was on it"- 532,000 views

Third place went to an ad that appealed to one of the White House's most sensitive issues of the past four years - Joe Biden's health.

Again using Harris' words, the Trump campaign attacked the vice president for repeating that the president was "vibrant," "tireless" and in "good shape." Right off the bat, the ad went out of its way to remark that Harris was equally responsible as Biden for the results of the last four years.

"Kamala knew Joe couldn't do the job, so she did it (...) They created this mess. They know Kamala owns this failed record," the ad's voiceover concludes.

"Meet the real Kamala Harris"- 721,000

The number two spot in terms of views went to the ad during which the Trump campaign introduced Kamala Harris to voters.

Released almost immediately after Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her vice president, this ad did its best to show the Democrat's beliefs to the public.

In fact, it only used the words she herself used in the 2020 election to tie her to the following list of policies:

"Fix it"- 1,600,000 views

Trump's most viewed ad on his YouTube channel was precisely the only one in the ranking that focused on positivity. Unlike the previous ones, which focused only on the negative aspects of Harris, this one transmitted a hopeful message.

Creating a stark contrast, in this case with the economic, border and geopolitical performance of the Biden-Harris Administration, the ad claims that Trump will create a new era of prosperity in the United States.

"It's time to turn the page on Joe and Kamala's failed agenda. President Trump fights for you, his strength kept us, safe Trump cut taxes for families, prices were lower and the border secure. Now President Trump can do it again," the voiceover expresses.

"Kamala broke it, Trump will fix it," the ad concludes.