“White dudes for Harris” may have been labelled cringe by her political opponents, but it has shown that Kamala Harris is attracting new voters, volunteers and donors in an election cycle that could be decided by thousands of votes in key states.

It has also highlighted the ability of social media to play a role in an American election again, after a fundraising and volunteering group for “white dudes” — led by famous Star Wars and Lord of the Rings actors — was banned by X for unknown reasons after raising more than $4 million for the Harris campaign.

White Dudes for Harris, featuring the support of actors Mark Hamill and Sean Astin, hosted a group call that raised millions and attracted 190,000 viewers.

Hamill and Astin were joined by Jeff Bridges, Mark Ruffalo and Joseph-Gordon Levitt, among other celebrities, and Democratic politicians who are supporting Harris’s campaign for the White House.

Mike Nellis, one of the organisers for White Dudes for Harris, said he was alerted that the account was suspended by X for “violating our rules against evading suspension”.

“We scared Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr so much tonight they suspended our account and won’t let us back in,” he said in a post.

“These guys are running scared of the success we’ve had tonight, but we’re not going to quit.”

The account was suspended after the call, before being reinstated on Tuesday morning without comment on why it was suspended.

Fundraising

Ross Morales Rocketto, a progressive organiser who helped start White Dudes for Harris, said at the beginning of the stream that this was a different sort of organising for white men.

“Throughout human history, a lot of time white men organised, it was with pointy hats on,” he said.

“The reason we’re doing this is that the left has been ceding white men to the MAGA right for far too long.”

Donald Trump won a majority of white men by 30 points in 2016 and 17 points in 2020, according to the Pew Research Centre and recent polling has him winning the majority of their votes in key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Harris’s strength in fundraising has been on display, as she amassed a huge war chest after stitching up the Democratic nomination in record time after Joe Biden dropped out.

Tim Walz, who has shot to the top as a potential VP pick, joined Pete Buttigieg and JB Pritzker on the call.

“Make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his arse and sent him on the road,” Walz said.
“You know that’s something that guy’s going to have to live with the rest of his life.”

Response

Republicans have responded by calling “White Dudes for Harris” cringe, but it follows a series of social media-driven online meetups  that have brought tens of thousands of new volunteers and donors into the fold for Harris.

Democrats have compared the grassroots support for Harris to Obama’s 2008 victory. Photo: AAP

The vice president has surpassed Trump in nationwide polling averages for the first time.

Elon Musk is yet to address the suspension, but recently went all in on Trump, then backpedalled, after promising to give $US45 million a month to his campaign following the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

Harris has also seen an unprecedented rise in popularity as people celebrate a candidate who isn’t Biden or Trump.

Steve Bannon, a close ally of Trump, said it may not be enough to win the white men demographic for Harris, but it could “stop the carnage”.