More than 140,000 people have signed up for Monday night’s “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom fundraising and organizing rally, raising more than $1 million for the event, which will feature comments from several potential Democratic running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris.
That response is 14 times the initial target of 10,000 sign-ups, which was set by organizers several days ago for the event, which is being broadcast on YouTube. 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.
“I’m white, I’m a dude, and I’m here for Harris,” said actor Jeff Bridges, who played “The Dude” in the Coen brothers movie “The Big Lebowski,” on the call.
“I’m excited, man!” Bridges said.
“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,”
Among the scheduled speakers for the 8 p.m. ET Zoom event are U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, all of whom reportedly are being considered as possible running mates for Harris.
All four also are themselves “white dudes.”
Also slated to speak at the event are Mitch Landrieu, the co-chair of Harris’ campaign, and the actors Mark Hamill, Mark Ruffalo, Misha Collins and Josh Gad.
Harris became the Democratic Party’s de facto nominee last week, after President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 election contest against former President Donald Trump, and endorsed Harris as the party’s nominee.
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.”
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