Kamala Harris has been roasted for crowing how her presidential campaign raised more than $1.4billion through grass roots funds after splashing it on celebrity appearances and an ad on the Las Vegas sphere.
The Vice President boasted in a video message to her supporters that her campaign received a ‘historic $1.4billion, almost $1.5billion’ from grass roots supporters, which Harris said was ‘the most in presidential campaign history’.
‘Nearly eight million donors contributed an average donation of about $56 to fuel our people-powered campaign,’ she added.
But she has been criticised for how her campaign blowing through a billion dollars – with fingers being pointed at the celebrity-filled concert rallies in swing states that took place in the final days of the campaign as well as expensive ad campaigns.
Top Democratic megadonor John Morgan, a wealthy trial lawyer, fumed about the spending spree in an appearance on Chris Cuomo’s show ‘CUOMO’ on NewsNation.
‘All of a sudden, everybody’s got the keys to the candy store, ad buyers, talent consultants. There’s 100 days to do it, and the money started pouring in, pouring in,’ he said.
He bemoaned some of the profligate spending decisions, like lighting up the Las Vegas “Sphere” to the tune of $900,000, plus ad-buys in his home state of Florida and wall-to-wall ads in the unsuccessful bid to prevent Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
He suggested ill motives for some of the costs. ‘She had all these consultants. And if you don’t run the ads, you don’t get paid for the buy. Nine hundred thousand to put her face on the sphere in Las Vegas! The ego, the crazy, the commissions,’ he complained.
The Vice President boasted in a video message to her supporters that her campaign received a ‘historic $1.4billion, almost $1.5billion’ from grass roots supporters, which Harris said was ‘the most in presidential campaign history’.
VP Harris’s campaign paid about $1 million to Oprah Winfrey’s production company, in an effort that tried to use celebrity endorsements to help propel her
Morgan ripped the campaign for paying to put Harris’s face on the Las Vegas Sphere, in an eye catching ad in battleground Nevada
Other campaign expenses that have raised eyebrows have included up to $4million on private jets, $1million to Oprah Winfrey’s production company Harpo studios, $5,000 to a California nail artist, and more. She also spent $654million on advertising, according to AdImpact.
Legendary talk show host Winfrey is not the only entertainer who received money from the Vice President in the hopes of helping her presidential campaign.
Harris reportedly spent six figures to build out the set for her October appearance on the hit podcast ‘Call Her Daddy’, where she sat down with the show’s host Alex Cooper.
While Harris avoided the show’s typically sexual content, she spoke of her take on abortion rights and student debt during the seven minute sit down.
According to a report by The Washington Examiner, her campaign had spent six figures on building out the set of the podcast for her small appearance.
The outlet also reported that it was filmed inside a hotel room in Washington DC, with crews building out the set to imitate Cooper’s actual set in Los Angeles.
The Harris campaign also paid half a million dollars to a non-profit founded by longtime on-air personality the Rev. Al Sharpton just before he interviewed her, which reportedly blindsided cable news network MSNBC.
The donations that flowed in just before the New York activist’s conversation with Harris have brought up questions about the news outlet’s credibility.
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Rev. Al Sharpton exit after having lunch at Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem, February 21, 2019 in New York City. According to Sharpton’s civil rights organization National Action Network, the two discussed criminal justice reform and other critical issues
According to a report by The Washington Examiner, Harris’ campaign had spent six figures on building out the set of the podcast for her small appearance
Katy Perry performs during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Carrie Blast Furnaces in Pittsburgh, November 4, 2024
The National Action Network, a civil rights non-profit that was founded by Sharpton in 1991, received $500,000 from the Harris campaign just weeks before the MSNBC host conducted a highly-anticipated sit-down with the Democrat.
Campaign finance records from the 60-year-old’s campaign reveal that two separate payments went to National Action Network. One payment for $250,000 was sent to the non-profit on Sept. 5 and another for the same amount was sent on Oct. 1.
The softball interview with Sharpton occurred on Oct. 20, just weeks after the second payment.
MSNBC is widely known to be a liberal-leaning channel, and the fact that one of its top talents took in a huge amount of cash just before a consequential interview has caused backlash from journalists who say the outlet’s now got a ‘black eye.’
During the rosy interview, the MSNBC host lavishly praised Harris’ ‘extraordinary historic campaign’ while simultaneously decrying Donald Trump as ‘hostile and erratic.’
The spending spree was all part of a campaign that relied on big rallies, frequent trips to swing states, and no small measure of celebrity and support from A-list musicians and actors.
Now, in the aftermath of her defeat, her campaign continues to send out a string of solicitations to raise money to try to pay off a campaign debt reported to be as high as $20 million.
Harris said in her video to supporters that her ‘fight for freedom, for opportunity, included ‘almost four million first-time contributors to our campaign’.
Event production, like the podcast appearance, was a big spend for the campaign who hosted the likes of Lady Gaga (pictured at Harris’s Philadelphia rally) and Katy Perry on the eve of the election
Vice President Kamala Harris is photographed delivering her concession speech on Wednesday, November 6 on the campus of her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
‘I just have to remind you, don’t you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5th,’ Harris said in the video message posted to X, referencing the date of the presidential election that she lost to President-elect Donald Trump.
In the past three weeks, Trump has gotten his transition going by naming a flurry of Cabinet appointees.
Harris, in the meantime, had decamped to Hawaii for a post-election-loss vacation and then arrived in the Bay Area Monday to spend Thanksgiving break among family.
She was dressed in work-wear for the video in what appeared to be a living room and looked bleary-eyes as she delivered the 28-second message.
‘And you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire,’ she continued. ‘So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.’
Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, spent six days at a $1,300-a-night vacation property on Hawaii’s big island, rarely venturing out in public, DailyMail.com reported on Monday.
The home was a 5,200 sq. ft, five-bedroom property owned by a scion of the Mondavi wine family.
And according to the online listing, the rental included ‘three complimentary bottles of Mondavi family wine with every reservation.’