A recent fundraiser by US Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is being billed as the largest Zoom call ever.
Vice President Harris’s “White Women: Answer the Call” fundraising event, which raised more than $11 million for her recently announced presidential campaign, reportedly broke the record for the highest attendance of any Zoom call, with 200,000 attendees on the videoconferencing platform.
The 200,000 strong Zoom participants reportedly swamped the call at one point, even ‘swamping’ the campaign donation link. This appears to have been a temporary glitch, and the Zoom call has been hailed as a huge success.
Zoom-Boom
The news is the biggest in a series of astonishingly popular virtual grassroots campaign events for Harris, including “Win With Black Women” and “White Dudes for Harris,” which have reportedly raised $2 million and $4 million, respectively.
Capitalizing on the fresh energy of its new candidate, the Democratic Party has had great success with its “Zoom Boom” fundraising strategy. The DNC reported that it broke records by raising more than $6.5 million in a single day (July 21) from citizen donations.
The record-breaking rally comes after Harris clinched the presidential nomination after incumbent President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race. In the week since, a seemingly revitalized Democratic campaign has raised more than $200 million in donations and gained 170,000 volunteers.
Digital strategy and virtual campaigns have become increasingly important in recent years as the COVID-19 pandemic drives candidates to host fundraising events online.
Historically, this has produced mixed results for the Democratic Party, with candidates like Bernie Sanders’ online events drawing more than 1,000 votes. five million viewersbut Joe Biden’s first virtual Town Hall called a ‘technical nightmare’.
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Digital outreach allows political candidates to connect with voters across the country without the expensive rallies and time-consuming travel. It’s clear that digital events will remain central to political campaigns for the foreseeable future, and Team Kamala is taking full advantage of an enthusiastic young audience and gaining valuable momentum for the November 2024 election.
Zoom has declined to comment on the claim.