‘White Dudes for Harris’ raises more than $2 million

More than 140,000 people signed up for Monday night’s “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom fundraising and organizing rally, raising more than $2 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 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,”

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.”

“The vibes right now are incredible … the momentum is extraordinary,” Buttigieg said on the call about Harris’ candidacy.

“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 Republicans were really saying 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.

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 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.”