Over 200,000 individuals came together on a Zoom call on Monday night to support Kamala Harris’s presidential bid. The live event – dubbed “White Dudes for Harris” – brought together several well-known faces, including actors Mark Ruffalo, Jeff Bridges, Mark Hamill, and Josh Groban, who expressed their support for the 59-year-old Democrat’s campaign raising an astounding $4 million in donations.
The live video call was part of a broader series of events aimed at mobilizing different demographic groups in support of Harris. While previous calls had engaged Black women, Black men, South Asian women, the LGBTQ community, and white women, Monday’s gathering focused specifically on white men, emphasizing the critical role the ethnic group can play in shaping the outcome of the November 5th presidential election against Republican rival Donald Trump, who had secured over 60% of the white male vote in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
“If white guys would just show up, if we would stand up and be counted, if we would talk about what it really means to be a great partner, and a man, which is to protect, and to help, and to lift up, and to not push down, all of us are going to be better for it,” event’s organizer Ross Morales Rocketto said.
Throughout the three-hour event, speakers reiterated that supporting Harris and the broader Democratic platform would indeed benefit every demographic group by promoting equal rights and reproductive rights for women.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker were among the attendees. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and filmmaker J.J. Abrams each committed to matching $50,000 in donations. In total, there were over 60,000 individual contributions, with a net total exceeding 4 million dollars.
During the rally, however, the X (formerly Twitter) account for “White Dudes for Harris” was temporarily suspended for unknown reasons. Rocketto took to his personal X account to accuse Elon Musk, who has recently endorsed Trump, of being intimidated by their efforts. “Got @elonmusk scared,” Rocketto posted, along with a screenshot of the suspended account.
A backup account swiftly gained traction, amassing 20,000 followers before the original account was reinstated. The reason for the suspension remains unclear, and Musk has yet to comment on the incident
