Pete Buttigieg, Jeff Bridges, and others help raise $4M on White Dudes for Harris call

While white, cisgender men vote for America’s first completely non-white president over an avatar of grievance? A somewhat controversial group calledWhite Dudes For Harris has issued a rallying cry. But after raising $4 million to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, liberals are treading carefully on the demographic’s feelings.

But the group has also landed in the crosshairs, earning a temporary suspension from the social media platform owned by one of the world’s wealthiest white men. It’s worth a look at the group organizing for a progressive candidate from the traditionally right side of the tracks.

What is White Dudes For Harris?

Organizer Ross Morales Rocketto says he believes Democrats need to actively reach out to white voters, because Republicans have not been shy about doing so. “The left has been ceding White men to the MAGA right for way too long,” he said in a livestream. “Trump won over 60% of white men in both 2016 and 2020. That's 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 their families.”

The group gained attention on July 29 when it held a massivelivestream, raising money directly for the Harris Victory Fund, the likely Democratic presidential nominee’s official campaign account. At the start of the event, Rocketto said he initially hoped to raise $500,000 for the Democratic campaign. By the end of the stream, more than $4 million was raised directly from the event.

Isn’t this, like, super problematic?

Rocketto early in the stream addressed what he called the elephant in the room. “A lot of people feel and felt uncomfortable about the call and I think that's understandable,” he said. “Throughout American history, when white men have organized, it was often with pointy hats on.” But this was no a Klu Klux Klan rally, and to be clear, attendance wasn’t limited to white men, and it featured speakers who were black, including Maurice Mitchell, national director of theWorking Families Party.

Who are these dudes?

For one, ‘The Dude.’ Actor Jeff Bridges, who long hasfinancially supported progressive efforts including Victory Fund, made an appearance at the livestream, alone justifying the ‘Dudes’ moniker thanks to his famous role in The Big Lebowski. But the event also saw participation by prominent LGBTQ+ figures, including Transportation Secretary (andpossible Harris running mate) Pete Buttigieg and singer-actorLance Bass.

“The vibes right now are incredible,” Buttigieg said on the call. “What’s really filling my sails right now,” he said, was the positivity from Harris.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker also attended, as did a number of Democratic leaders and donors. So did The West Wing actor Bradley Whitford, who described the admittedly low-diversity crowd a “rainbow of beige.”

So who’s actually freaking out?

Well, a bunch of right-wingers. Most notably, X suspended the official account for White Dudes For Harris,@Dudes4Harris. A screenshot Rocketto shared on his own account on Monday night showed the page was later put in “read-only” but the account was still suspended because it “broke the X Rules.” No further details were given.

X’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, who grew up inapartheid-era South Africa and has raisedfears of white genocide in his home country, recently endorsed Donald Trump for president. He has also flagged the term cisgender as aslur on X while greenlighting increased transphobia that once earned users suspensions on Twitter under previous management.

But many right-wing influencers questioned the existence of a White Dudes For Harris group, even as they fan misogyny and white nationalism. “Can a Black dude join White dudes for Kamala…? Or do they get denied for being Black?” reads a post from the right-win Gunther Eagleman account, who frequently calls Harris “DEI Kamala.”

Other influencer accounts simply leaned into transphobia, including the Too Late For Unity account which posted acollage of a number of trans women including Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levine and posted it with the #WhiteDudesForHarris hashtag.