A crowd of thousands of white men gathered to show solidarity with the presidential candidate of their choice and there was no violence: not a single broken window, not a makeshift noose, not a trace of bear spray.
But this demonstration was not for him, it was for her.
White Dudes for Harris hosted a Zoom fundraiser on Monday in support of the vice president and her bid to win the White House. The online event raised more than $4 million, drew 200,000 attendees and inspired a number of jokes.
“What a variety of whiteness we have here,” said actor Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The West Wing”) in his opening remarks. “It’s like a rainbow of beige.”
Using identity politics to raise campaign money is nothing new, but rallying a group of white men to counter dire MAGA warnings — “White people will be replaced if Democrats win!” — is genius.
Democratic organizer Ross Morales Rocketto was behind the effort and, according to the New York Times, acknowledged the discomfort some might feel about the group's name.
“I don’t blame them,” he said. “Throughout American history, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that when white men organize, they often do so with pointy hats on, and things don’t end well.”
I wish the Ku Klux Klan were a thing of the past.
But who better than these to counteract such hatred? other The white guys and their de facto leader: Jeff Bridges. The actor who played Dude in “The Big Lebowski” started the video call by referring to a White Dudes for Harris cap he saw on the Internet.
“I’m a guy. I’m white. I’m a guy. And I love Harris,” he said. Bridges also used his “Lebowski” character’s line: “As the guy would say, ‘That’s just my opinion, man.’”
The appropriation of the other side’s identity politics and the subsequent exploitation of the absurdity of their messaging marks a new day for Democrats. The fear and anguish that previously aroused President Biden’s low popularity ratings have given way to new enthusiasm since he announced he was dropping out of the race and Harris stepped in.
Racist and sexist attacks on Harris from the right (including from Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and others who called her a “DEI hire”) are being repurposed and used by the left. A “Cat Ladies for Harris” video call is in the works, taking its name from the insult hurled at Harris by Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, who called the vice president “a childless cat lady.”
White men were inspired by previous Zoom fundraisers for Harris that were organized around racial identities. “Win With Black Women,” a high-profile group of Black women, raised $1.5 million for Harris in the hours after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. Other groups that have rallied to support and donate to Harris include Black men, South Asian Americans and white women.
Monday's attendees and speakers included Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois.
Actor Mark Hamill delivered his classic “Star Wars” line: “I am Luke Skywalker. I am here to rescue you.” Other celebrities in attendance included actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Gad, Sean Astin and Paul Scheer, director JJ Abrams and singer Josh Groban.
But it was Democratic organizer Rocketto who best summed up the reason for the gathering. “The left has been caving to white men on the MAGA right for far too long,” he said. “That will end tonight because we know that the silent majority of white men are actually not MAGA supporters. They are people like you who just want a better life for your families.”
And they managed to make their point without storming the Capitol or shooting at a Black Lives Matter protester. They're virtuosos, boys.
