Kamala Harris accused of ‘zombie fundraising’ as donors are STILL getting charged months after election

Vice President Kamala Harris has been accused of ‘zombie fundraising’ after donors to her failed campaign are still seeing withdrawals from their accounts – more than two months after the election.

The former presidential candidate’s fundraising committee was reportedly caught charging monthly recurring donors this month Politics.

“These people didn’t sign up to pay bills in January,” a senior digital staffer for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign told the newspaper.

The former staffer called Harris “super shady” and claimed the decision to continue attracting small-dollar donors was “strenuous.”

Even some of the Democratic party’s most loyal donors are turning their backs on the vice president and continuing to fundraise.

“It’s foolish, out of reach and needlessly takes advantage of our most loyal supporters,” said a Democratic aide who shared screenshots of their donations with Politico’s Playbook.

However, the unnamed Democratic operative didn’t have to think twice after seeing an indictment in December, as there are typically hefty “closing costs” associated with any campaign.

A month later, more than two months after Harris’ election loss, the Dem donor said the committee had not sought explicit approval to continue the donations after the election.

Trump walks on stage with his wife Melania after being declared the winner during an election night watch party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach

Still, her fundraising committee sent automated emails saying, “Thank you for your generous monthly commitment,” and that donations will continue “until you contact us.”

A similar disagreement emerged in 2020 during President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, when fundraising apparently “trapped” donors into signing up for monthly contributions.

The president-elect’s campaign made its money in part by making it challenging for donors to see themselves signing up for monthly automatic donations, including hiding them in pre-checked boxes hidden in fine print.

Such “grifting” tactics resulted in more than $112 million in refunds being paid out to donors in 2020.

The case doesn’t appear to be the same for people like Dem donors, as no one seems to dispute that they signed up for monthly withdrawals, Politico reported.

A Harris Victory Fund donation page remains active on ActBlue – a fundraising platform of the US Democratic Party – but the fund has now closed and recurring costs have been forwarded to the DNC.

“These HVF donations will help Democrats across the country rebuild the party,” a DNC official told Playbook, adding that donors can cancel at any time.

A similar disagreement emerged in 2020 during President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, when fundraising apparently “trapped” donors into signing up for monthly contributions.

Now political professionals are claiming that shifting money is “unethical” because the soon-to-be ex-vice president will not have any access to the money while she evaluates her political future.

Some have even argued that it should be a best practice to stop using donor bank accounts after Election Day.

“The expectation is that they’re going to stop recurring donations because they don’t need to,” said Mike Nellis, head of the Democratic online fundraising company Authentic.

“If you involve the committee in something that will continue to have an impact, such as the DNC or another political campaign, I feel more than comfortable continuing the recurring donations as long as it is transparent to the donor and in accordance with ActBlue and the FEC,” Nellis added.

Harris has since joined a small and rather miserable club made up of vice presidents who had to oversee the formal confirmation of their own defeat as the results of the 2024 election were certified on January 6.

Under the Constitution, the vice president is the head of the Senate, charged with the process of certifying the results of the elections in the White House.

Harris, who lost all seven major battleground states to a candidate she called a fascist, has now overcome her latest humiliation when she declared Donald Trump the winner.

She follows in the footsteps of Al Gore, Bill Clinton’s vice president, who had to admit defeat to Republican George W. Bush in 2001 after weeks of legal wrangling over hanging chads and small margins in Florida.

Ahead of her ‘final humiliation’, Trump supporters expressed joy at the idea of ​​Harris having to formally declare her Republican opponent the winner

Before him, Richard Nixon, then vice president to Dwight D. Eisenhower, had to sign off on the results of his loss to John F. Kennedy after the 1960 election.

Ahead of her “final humiliation,” Trump supporters expressed joy at the idea that Harris would have to formally declare her Republican opponent the winner.

‘Kamala must announce the election results on Monday…’ conservative comedian Tim Young wrote on X: “It will be must-see TV.”

Someone reaching out to MAGA Michelle wrote, “The best part about this is that Kamala has to validate her own election offense, which brings back all the shame she must have felt.”

Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, said: “No one gets excited about admitting their own loss, but I think it is essential for all democracies that there is a peaceful transition of power.”

He said Harris wasn’t the only one who had to fill this role: “It’s happened to a lot of vice presidents,” he said.