‘White Dudes for Harris’ raise $3.5 million for Democrat’s campaign against Trump

A
“White
Dudes
for
Harris”
online
fundraising
and
organizing
rally
raised
more
than
$3.5
million
for
the
presidential
campaign
of
Vice
President

Kamala
Harris
Monday
night,
with
speakers
who
included
would-be
running
mates,
Hollywood
actors,
and
labor
leaders.

More
than
150,000
joined
the
online
stream
for
the
event,
which
was
broadcast
on

YouTube,
blowing
past
the
original
target
of
10,000
RSVPs
set
by
organizers
several
days
ago.

The
call
is
the
male
version
of
a
“White
Women:
Answer
the
Call”
Zoom
fundraising
meeting
that
drew
more
than
160,000
women
to
support

Harris
last
week
after
President

Joe
Biden
dropped
out
of

the
election
against
former
President

Donald
Trump,
and

endorsed
the
vice
president
as
his
replacement
atop
the

Democratic
ticket.

“I’m
white,
I’m
a
dude,
and
I’m
here
for
Harris,”
said
actor
Jeff
Bridges,
who
played
the
uber-laid-back
bowler
and
White
Russian-drinking
character
“The
Dude”
in
the
Coen
brothers
movie
“The
Big
Lebowski,”
on
the
call.

“I’m
excited,
man!”
Bridges
said.

LinkedIn
found

Reid
Hoffman
and
the
film
director
J.J.
Abrams
during
the
call
each
promised
to
match
$50,000
in
donations
raised
from
attendees.

“Ninety
nine
days
from
now
we
have
an
opportunity
to
help
Kamala
Harris
make
some
history,
we
also
have
the
opportunity
to
change
some
minds,
to
have
some
tough
but
fair
conversations,
to
meet
other
white
dudes
where
they
are
and
to
address
some
things
that,
well
frankly,
just
haven’t
been
addressed,”
the
organizers
of
“White
Dudes
for
Harris”
said
in
a
statement.

“We
are
honest,
open,
and
ready
to
support
our
first
black
woman
president,”

Speakers
during
the
session
included
U.S.
Transportation
Secretary

Pete
Buttigieg,
North
Carolina
Gov.
Roy
Cooper,
Minnesota
Gov.
Tim
Walz,
and
Illinois
Gov.
JB
Pritzker,
all
of
whom
reportedly
were
being
considered
as
possible
running
mates
for
Harris.

All
four
also
are
themselves
“white
dudes.”

Walz
said,
“We’re
not
in
this
alone.
The
rest
of
the
world
needs
us.”

“Here’s
the
great
news,”
Walz
said.

“How
often
in
a
hundred
days
do
you
get
to
get
to
change
the
trajectory
of
the
world?
How
often
in
a
hundred
days
do
you
get
to
do
something
that’s
going
to
impact
generations
to
come?”
Walz
asked.

“And
how
often
in
the
world
do
you
make
that
bastard
wake
up
afterwards
and
know
that
a
Black
woman
kicked
his
ass
and
sent
him
on
the
road,
and
you
know
that’s
something
that
guy’s
going
to
have
to
live
with
the
rest
of
his
life.”

Buttigieg
said,
“The
vibes
right
now
are
incredible
…
the
momentum
is
extraordinary,”

“Donald
Trump‘s
unfitness
for
office
is
clear,
and
nobody
is
better
positioned
to
prosecute
that
case
than
Kamala
Harris,”
Buttigieg
said.

Cooper
announced
online
during
the
call
that
he
was
withdrawing
from
consideration
as
Harris’
running
mate.

“I
strongly
support
Vice
President
Harris’
campaign
for
President,”
Cooper
wrote
on
X.
“I
know
she’s
going
to
win
and
I
was
honored
to
be
considered
for
this
role.
This
just
wasn’t
the
right
time
for
North
Carolina
and
for
me
to
potentially
be
on
a
national
ticket.”

On
the
call,
Cooper
lambasted
Trump
and
his
allies
for
painting
Harris
as
a
“DEI
candidate,”
arguing
that
what
Republicans
really
were
saying
was
that
a
woman
of
color
was
by
definition
not
qualified
to
be
president.

“I
know
we
all
love
our
country
and
we
can
show
it
by
getting
to
work,”
Cooper
said.

Pritzker
highlighted
the
fact
that
Trump
earlier
this
year
was
convicted
of
34
felonies
related
to
a
hush
money
payment
to
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels
found
liable
for
sexually
abusing
the
writer
E.
Jean
Carroll,
and
is
“a
congenital
liar.”

“He’s
a
fraud,”
Pritzker
said.

Harris
became
the
Democratic
Party’s
de
facto
nominee
last
week,
after
Biden’s
stunning
decision
to
quit
the
race.

Harris,
if
elected,
would
be
the
first
woman,
and
only
the
second
person
of
color
to
be
elected
president
of
the
United
States.
The
vice
president’s
father
is
a
Black
man
from
Jamaica
and
her
mother
is
from
India.

Trump
and
his
running
mate,
Sen.
JD
Vance
of
Ohio,
are
both
white.

“As
White
Dudes,
we
know
full
well
how
MAGA
cynically
preys
on
resentments,”
the
White
Dudes
for
Harris
organizers
said
in
a

social
media
kit
for
the
event.
“This
moment
of
crisis
is
challenging
us,
but
we
won’t
let
fear
define
who
we
are
and
take
us
–
or
our
country
–
down
a
dark
path

“As
White
men,
we
recognize
all
too
clearly
the
culture
of
toxic
entitlement
surrounding
Donald
Trump,”
the
organizers
wrote.
“We
need
to
be
honest
with
ourselves
and
each
other
about
the
role
we’ve
played
in
our
nation’s
history
–
good
and
bad.”