The latest demographic effort backing Vice President Harris, “White Dudes for Harris,” raised more than $4 million on a call Monday evening.
Additionally, more than 190,000 participants joined the call and 150,000 people joined the group. The call was put together by a number of Democratic organizers not affiliated with Harris’s campaign.
Contenders on Harris’s vice presidential shortlist, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), joined the call. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who took himself out of the running to be Harris’s running mate Monday, also joined.
“The vibes right now are incredible,” Buttigieg told participants on the call, referring to the mood among Democrats.
Cooper took the opportunity to hit former President Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), accusing the GOP ticket of not respecting women.
“Real men respect women, their decisions and their careers. And it’s pretty clear that Donald Trump and JD Vance don’t,” Buttigieg added.
A number of famous figures, including actors Jeff Bridges, Mark Hamill, Bradley Whitford, Josh Gad, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Paul Scheer, along with singers Lance Bass and Josh Groban, also joined the call.
Whitford quipped at the “variety of whiteness” on the Zoom, describing it as a “rainbow of beige.”
During the call, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and filmmaker J.J. Abrams pledged to match $50,000 in donations, respectively.
The meeting is the latest demographic-based mobilization push in support of Harris. Hours after President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris last week, 40,000 people joined a “Win With Black Women” call in support of the vice president’s candidacy. More than 100,000 people also joined a “White Women for Kamala” call Thursday.
Democrats have struggled to win over men in recent elections, particularly with Trump on the ballot.
A recent Economist/YouGov survey, conducted earlier this month, found that 47 percent of men said they would vote for Trump, while 39 percent said the same about Harris. According to the Pew Research Center, Trump won white men by 30 points in 2016 and by 17 points in 2020.