Black Democratic operatives are reportedly criticizing Harris's campaign for shunning minority-owned political firms in favor of white-owned ones.
NOTUS, a product of the Allbritton Journalism Institute, reported on a call with Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP. According to a person familiar with the call, Johnson and others were frustrated with the campaign for being on track to spend less money on Black-owned businesses than President Biden did in 2020.
“If black voters are the base, it should be black marketers telling the story,” the source said. “We still don't have clear answers on anything.”
A Democratic consultant also said: “It's a little concerning to see that the spending is so… [much] “Less, much lower. I think it's about a quarter less than what it was at this time four years ago.”
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Anonymous Democratic operatives and staffers criticized Harris' campaign for having no plan to increase spending at minority-owned businesses. (Getty Images)
They added: “In 2020 we managed to get by and we are not spending at the levels we did then.”
After speaking with more than a dozen vendors and staff members, NOTUS found that the campaign is largely ambivalent about “black spending” despite record levels of funding and the need to reach out to minority voters.
“It's not just about the media, it's about get-out-the-vote operations and grassroots operations. Now, when it comes to any spending by blacks, it's 20 questions. And we're talking about a tiny fraction of what's being spent in the general market. It's getting pretty insulting,” said one Democratic operative.
Harris' current campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond insisted to NOTUS that the issue was a problem for the Democratic Party as a whole and not the vice president specifically.
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Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly mentioned “dark spending” but has not prioritized it. (AP/Stephen B. Morton)
“Everyone who says it's not about money is lying. It's about money,” Richmond said. “They're making noise because they want money and they want a contract, and that's fair enough. That's fine, they should just say it.”
Still, he stressed the need to reach out to minority voters.
“I'll answer it this way: I'm trying to win a race and I think we have to reach out to voters. We have to reach out to black and Latino voters. We have to reach out to them with people who have the experience to connect with them,” Richmond said. “So I've been very adamant about making sure that that's what we're trying to do.”
NOTUS wrote that “it is unclear to what extent Harris is aware of the frustration,” though she has reportedly raised the issue for both her campaign and Biden’s. However, it is not being “prioritized.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Harris currently leads former President Trump by more than 60% among black voters. (Fox News)
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Data from Howard University’s Public Opinion Initiative found that an overwhelming majority of Black voters supported Harris over former President Trump (82% to 12%). However, support for Trump doubled to 16% among Black voters under 50 and rose to 21% among Black men.
