Vice President Kamala Harris is developing a new fan base: white dudes.
As her presidential campaign ramps up, a group of white men formed a coalition known as “White Dudes for Harris.”
The group plans to kick off Monday night via a virtual call that will feature speakers including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), singer Josh Groban, actor Mark Hamill, and others.
“Together, we aren’t going to sit around and let the MAGA crowd bully other white guys into voting for a hateful and divisive ideology because we understand that under MAGA everyone loses,” the RSVP page for Monday’s call reads. “We know that as white dudes, we have both a strong, and positive role to play in America’s shared future, and it begins with all of us cutting through the MAGA crap and reminding the folks who have co-opted American symbols what America actually means.”
White Dudes for Harris also launched a $35 hat with its slogan ahead of the meeting.
The group said that nearly 80,000 people have RSVP’d and it collectively raised more than $300,000 in support of Harris’ campaign.
What do Democrats think about White Dudes for Harris?
Democratic influencers and those planning to attend the call praised the initial organizing.
“Tonight’s call represents a promising attempt to create a movement and a permission structure to lift many white dudes out of the MAGA whirlpool they’ve gotten sucked into,” wrote one person on X. “It will allow for tough but necessary conversations that can create healing, movement, and unity around Kamala Harris and Democratic candidates like her.”
He continued: “The guys organizing tonight’s call were inspired by the Black women and men, as well as all the other folks, who’ve organized calls over the last week. White men haven’t organized ourselves well around Democratic values, which has been detrimental to the country and our ability to win elections.”
Joked the pro-Democrat account VoteDarkBrandon: “Folks—white boy summer is here,” riffing on the right-wing attempts to claim the phrase.
At the same time, critics of Harris were quick to put the group on blast.
Some accounts posted images of transgender women while making fun of the initiative, while others took digs at the manliness of the attendees.
“White dudes for Harris?? The Democrats return to their segregationist roots,” slammed one person.
“If you belong to ‘White Dudes for Harris’, you’ve turned in your man card and didn’t even realize it,” snarked someone else.
“These dudes would be melting down if there was a ‘White Dudes for Trump,’” mused another person.
Asked one user: “How beta-male can you be?”
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