Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign seems to be prioritizing fundraising and celebrity engagements, raising millions with the support of Hollywood and wealthy donors.
Support for Harris surged after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign on July 21 and endorsed her. Donors who had been hesitant under Biden and celebrities questioning his mental fitness quickly shifted their backing to Harris, significantly enhancing her profile.
Less than a day after Biden’s announcement, the Democracy Alliance—a group of progressive donors that has raised over $2 billion for liberal initiatives—publicly supported Harris. In her first official month as the nominee, her campaign raised $361 million in August, more than doubling former President Donald Trump’s total for the same period.
Harris made her first appearance in the Los Angeles area since launching her campaign on Sunday, hosting a fundraiser with ticket prices starting at $500 and going up to $1 million. With stars like Stevie Wonder, Demi Lovato, Jessica Alba, and Lily Tomlin in attendance, the event, along with another fundraiser in San Francisco, reportedly brought in about $55 million for her campaign, according to Spectrum News 1.
“We just see the same old tired show from the same old tired playbook,” Harris stated at the Los Angeles fundraiser, the outlet reported.
Former Obama fundraiser Allison Huynh told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Hollywood and Big Tech have historically promoted candidates as an “aspirational luxury ticket,” noting how former President Barack Obama was effectively “adopted” by these influential groups.
“They market their candidates as, like I said, an aspirational luxury ticket item. I was interested in Obama because there were a lot of young people who supported him … he spoke to folks who were new to politics or disenfranchised with the divisiveness of politics,” Huynh said. “But then quickly Obama was adopted by Oprah, by P. Diddy, the royalty of Beverly Hills, I believe even Harvey Weinstein under the guise of social justice … Obama became the puppet for the Hollywood and tech elite. That’s what I saw.”
Despite strong support for Harris from Hollywood, Trump has garnered backing from celebrities like Kid Rock, Zachary Levi, Dennis Quaid, and billionaire Elon Musk. In June, a Silicon Valley fundraiser for Trump raised an estimated $12 million, exceeding expectations from the typically left-leaning audience, according to Craft Ventures co-founder David Sacks.
Since her first debate with Trump on September 10, Harris has campaigned in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Georgia, while participating in only four brief interviews with 6ABC Philadelphia Action News, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, and a sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, alongside virtual appearances from celebrities like Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Stiller, and Chris Rock.
Former Democratic fundraiser Evan Barker discussed with the DCNF the apparent disconnect in Harris’ strategy, which prioritizes engagement with wealthy and famous individuals over a more focused effort to connect with everyday voters.
“You know, I think what was really telling — I’m sure you saw the Oprah Winfrey rally … That, to me, was just absolutely repulsive. I just saw a bunch of celebrities zooming in from their mansions or their hotel suites and basically just talking about Kamala Harris’s identity or just making sort of like these very generic platitudes about hope, joy and integrity and not really discussing the like actual state of the economy and how working Americans are really, really hurting right now,” Barker said.
Huynh also criticized Harris’ interviews, calling the “aspirational” language an “illusionary game” meant to “normalize” her to voters.
“I believe Harris is a puppet because we never really see her speak on her own. What are her passions? She speaks like a corporate drone. And that language, when we examine that language, it’s very aspirational. Look at her interview with Oprah, ‘Okay, hi Oprah … oh, Oprah she’s my BFF,’” Huynh told DCNF.
“It’s aspirations, dreams. ‘I was a middle-class kid, I had a lawn.’ Touchy, feely — ‘this is my childhood.’ I mean, the country is in crisis and she decides just to cozy up and have girlfriend time — tea time — on national TV with Oprah,” Huynh said. “I believe it’s psych ops, an illusionary game, to normalize Kamala instead of the radical policies and the politicians she runs with — which is basically socialists.”
While Harris and her running mate, Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, kicked off their bus tour in August, fundraising events featuring Hollywood’s elite have been held since late July. On July 29, “White Dudes for Harris” organized a fundraiser for the then-newly selected presidential nominee, bringing together politicians and major stars like Jeff Bridges, Bradley Whitford, and Josh Gad.
The Zoom event raised an estimated $4 million, attracting over 190,000 viewers to hear the speakers, despite Harris’s absence, according to Reuters. More recently, a Los Angeles fundraiser led by former President Barack Obama and attended by celebrities such as Rob Reiner, Conan O’Brien, and Jennifer Coolidge also raised over $4 million for Harris’ Victory Fund, with Harris not present at that event as well, Deadline reported.
“The Democrats like to say, you know, with all of this inflation, it’s okay because wages have risen, well, there’s a whole subset of people, like my grandmother, who haven’t seen their wages rise and are just really, really, really struggling to buy groceries and to fill up their gas tank,” Barker stated.
Polls consistently indicate that voters’ primary concerns are the economy, inflation, and immigration—issues to which Harris has provided vague responses or faced criticism from both political sides for her proposed policies and inconsistencies.
Even though inflation eased in June, with declines in prices for food, gas, and other goods, a July survey by Primerica found that two-thirds of middle-income families are struggling to keep up with living costs. Among the 1,017 adults surveyed, 58% rated their community’s economic health as “not good” or “poor.” Additionally, 30% reported an increase in credit card debt, and 80% said they have been cooking more meals at home rather than dining out or ordering takeout over the past year.
An August poll from The Economist/YouGov revealed that 24% of 1,567 respondents identified inflation as the top issue, followed by 13% mentioning jobs and the economy, and 12% citing immigration. In a September 15 poll by ABC News/Ipsos, Trump led Harris by seven points on economic trust and by ten points on immigration.
Barker shared that her mother and 86-year-old grandmother in Missouri have faced significant struggles in recent years. She noted her mother has had a “really hard time getting back on her feet” after losing her job during COVID-19, while her grandmother finds it difficult to afford basic necessities like gas and groceries on her Social Security income.
“So to see people like Oprah Winfrey, you know, and I know she has humble beginnings, right? She is so far removed from that at this point,” Barker continued. “And Chris Rock, who just made jokes basically about making donations to Kamala Harris back in the day when she was running for district attorney to get out of a parking ticket, was just incredibly insulting to people that are struggling right now.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to the DCNF’s request for a comment.
