White Dudes For Harris Draws $50,000 Match From J.J. Abrams & Support Of Jeff Bridges, Mark Hamill And Other Hollywood Figures
UPDATED: A White Dudes for Harris online rally raised more than $4 million for Kamala Harris’ campaign, as a mix of vice presidential hopefuls, labor leaders and Hollywood celebrities sought to capitalize on the new Democratic enthusiasm with a bit of a twist.
On the virtual You Tube event, J.J. Abrams chipped in a $50,000 match, while figures like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Groban, Bradley Whitford, Rory O’Malley, Paul Scheer, Adam Conover, Sean Astin, Michael Kelly, Lance Bass, Tim Daly and Josh Gad appeared. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the appearance of Jeff Bridges, “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski.
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“I’m white, I’m a dude and I’m for Harris,” Bridges said.
The viewership reached about 65,000, while more than 190,000 tuned in at some point, organizers said.
“I can see her being president,” Bridges said. “A woman president, man, how exciting.” He cited her stance on women’s rights and her stance on the environment and for her leadership for children.
He did take exception to one of her recent speeches, in which she said she would “fight” in her bid for the White House.
“I can’t relate to that,” Bridges said. “I just went through a health crisis, and I remember the doctor coming up to me and saying, ‘You got to fight. You got to fight.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about, man? I’m in surrender mode here.’ I’m going with the flow of what life has in store, and I feel that with this, with what we are all up to right now, it is not so much a fight, but it’s a surrender to our higher thoughts of how we want this future to turn out.”
“And so I am kind of surrendering to it, as opposed to fighting it, but that’s just my approach. As the Dude might said, ‘That’s just my opinion, man.'”
The event was based in part on the unexpected success of Black Women for Harris early last week, which was followed by other fundraising events, including White Women for Harris.
Also appearing on the call were vice presidential hopefuls such as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Not on the call, though, were others like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
Ross Morales Rocketto, who hosted and was a key organizer for the event, said that they got a lot of questions from folks of “why are we doing this? Why organize white dudes?”
“I’ll start by really addressing the elephant in the room, which is a lot of people feel and felt uncomfortable about the call, and I think that is understandably so. Throughout American history, when white men organized, it was often with pointy hats on. And so I think that this discomfort, the skepticism is understandable.”
He added, “The reason that we are doing this is that … the left has been ceding white men to the MAGA right for way, way too long. Trump won over 60% of white men in both 2016 and 2020. And that is going to stop tonight, because we know that the silent majority of white men aren’t actually MAGA supporters. They’re folks like you who just want a better life for our families.”
He also cited a “crisis of loneliness in this country,” noting that men represent 70% to 75% of all deaths of despair, like suicide and substance abuse. The MAGA right, he said, has co-opted “masculinity as a trope.”
Hamill said that Trump, via the Heritage Foundation blueprint Project 2025, was trying to “remake what we know as democracy into an autocracy.” Democrats have tied Project 2025 to Trump, as it is authored by former members of his administration. Trump has claimed to having known nothing about it. Hamill though, also cited Trump’s praise of Viktor Orban, the authoritarian leader of Hungary.
Hamill also admitted to being “technically challenged” — something that other speakers riffed on.
There was some acknowledgement that Harris is a bit of an underdog in the presidential race, while others offered some criticisms. Scott Galloway, the podcast host and NYU professor, said that Democrats have not done a great job of messaging around the economy. In the past 3 1/2 years, the U.S. has had the strongest growth and lowest inflation of world economies, he noted. He also said that he was “very disappointed” by some of the rhetoric coming out of the far left of the party on Israel, while no one has been a more “steadfast ally” than Joe Biden and Harris.
Galloway also offered a $50,000 — with a Star Wars themed request. Hamill got back on the virtual call, and said to Galloway, “I’m Luke Skywalker, and I’m here to rescue you Mr. Galloway.”
More to come.
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