Social media platform X has suspended an account that recently raised more than $4 million USD ($6.1 million AUD) for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
White Dudes 4 Harris held a three-and-a-half-hour Zoom call on Monday to raise funds for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is likely to become the Democrat nominee to run against Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump.
In that time, more than 180,000 people joined the call and donated millions of dollars to Harris’ presidential campaign.
But since the call and the huge success of the fundraiser, the White Dudes for Harris X account (formerly Twitter) has been blocked. Attendees and organisers of the event are accusing X owner Elon Musk of “real election interference”.
Here’s what you need to know.
Seems like @elonmusk might be a little scared. pic.twitter.com/919kKXxQGu
— Ross Morales Rocketto (@RossMoRock) July 30, 2024
What is White Dudes 4 Harris?
Organised by activist Ross Morales Rocketto, the virtual fundraiser is exactly what it says on the tin: it’s calling on white men in the US to advocate and vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Since President Joe Biden bowed out of the presidential race last week and endorsed his Vice President, several Zoom calls were organised to raise money for her campaign – mostly by Black women, Hispanic women, the LGBTQIA+ community and other underrepresented groups. Last week, the #WinWithBlackWomen network’s Zoom call attracted about 90,000 participants.
Rocketto wanted to do the same with the white men of America.
“We know the silent majority of white men aren’t MAGA (Trump) supporters,” Rocketto said at the beginning of the Zoom call. “We’ve created this place to listen.”
The White Dudes 4 Harris online event saw celebrities and politicians alike – all dudes, and mostly all white (except for Working Families Party national director, Maurice Mitchell) – come on to advocate for Harris.
It was incredible! Inspirational, motivational, and rejuvenating.
— Barbra, Please! (@thebarbra1) July 30, 2024
Let's go!#NotGoingBack #freedom #KAM47A pic.twitter.com/uhhj0EN4ve
Singer Josh Groban, actor Jeff Bridges, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and many other high profile “white dudes” addressed the tens of thousands of attendees and donors, sharing why they should vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election.
Even Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker in The Stars Wars franchise, jumped on the call. In fact, business professor Scott Galloway pledged to donate $50,000 for Hamill to say: “I’m Luke Skywalker, I’m here to rescue you.” And he did!
On the White Dudes for Harris call, a Professor from NYU said he would donate $50k if @MarkHamill would say "I am Luke Skywalker and I'm here to save you"
— John E. Rock ☮🇨🇦😎⛷💙🇺🇦 (@PoliticsUncens1) July 30, 2024
He did it!!!!!!!!!
Overall, about 180,000 white dudes joined the call and made several donations, and after three and a half hours, White Dudes 4 Harris raised more than $4 million USD ($6.1 million AUD).
What happened?
Within hours of the Zoom call ending, the organisation’s X account, @dudes4harris, was suspended by X.
“Your account, dudes4harris, has been suspended for violating the X rules due to a user report,” a message from X to the account read. “Specifically, for: violating our rules against evading suspension.”
Organiser Ross Morales Rocketto reshared the message on his own X account.
“Seems like Elon Musk might be a little scared,” Rocketto wrote.
Mike Nellis, who appears to be involved in the organisation of White Dudes 4 Harris, also posted the message.
“We scared Elon Musk and Donald J Trump Jnr so much tonight they suspended our account and won’t let us back in,” Nellis wrote on his X account.
“These guys are running scared of the success we’ve had tonight, but we’re not going to quit.”
We scared @elonmusk and @DonaldJTrumpJr so much tonight they suspended our account and won't let us back in
— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) July 30, 2024
These guys are running scared of the success we've had tonight, but we're not going to quit.
More coming tomorrow (unless they shut down my account too!)… pic.twitter.com/fU2OrqFFRv
The hashtag #WhiteDudes4Harris has been posted on X more than 56,000 times (at the time of publishing) and is currently trending on the platform. Several people have condemned X and Musk for the move.
“This is real election interference!” one person wrote.
“White Dudes for #Project2025 – triggered much?” another said.
The organisers of White Dudes 4 Harris said they would make an announcement of what’s next on Tuesday.
“More coming tomorrow (unless they shut down my account too!),” Mike Nellis wrote.