WASHINGTON — During a virtual chat with “White Dudes for Harris,” it was probably fitting that “The Dude” stopped by.
Actor Jeff Bridges gave a speech at a fundraiser aimed at white men who support the vice president Kamala Harris ‘ and sang her praises on Monday night, before channeling his iconic role as “The Dude” in 1998’s “The Big Lebowski,” declaring, “As the Dude might say, ‘That’s just my opinion, man. ‘ (The original line was “That’s just, like, your opinion, man.”)
Organizers said the call drew more than 123,000 participants and raised more than $3.3 million. It was the latest in a series of Zoom meetings to raise money and rally support among tens of thousands of supporters for Harris, after President Joe Biden announced that he was withdrawing from the presidential race and endorsing her.
Zoom meetings have previously been organized based on the background of supporters, including Black women, Hispanic women, Black men, Asian Americans, Native Americans and the LGBTQ+ community.
It reflected how Democrats, including Biden, have often relied on voters from a broad and diverse background to build a diverse coalition of support. The president’s 2020 victory, for example, relied on demographics ranging from organized labor to conservative, suburban women disillusioned with Republican Donald Trump.
The Zoom event for the “white guests” also featured actors Mark Ruffalo, Mark Hamill and Bradley Whitford, who dryly commented that so many white male speakers were “a rainbow of beige.”
Democratic officials also attended, including the Secretary of Transportation Pete ButtigiegGovernor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, all of whom have been named as potential Harris running buddies.
Pritzker joked that he wouldn’t normally go to “an event with a name like White Dudes for,” while Buttigieg talked about what an honor it was to share a phone call with Bridges as “The Dude” before taking a more serious tone: “Men are also freer in a country where we have a president who stands up for things like abortion rights.”
Walz said Trump supporters are not inherently bad people, but urged participants: “Never shy away from our progressive values. One man’s socialism is another man’s neighborliness.”
Ross Morales Rocketto, a progressive activist who founded the “dudes” group, said, “We know the silent majority of white men are not MAGA supporters,” referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
The Zoom calls weren’t organized by Harris’ team, but her campaign welcomes the help — and the millions of dollars in fundraising. “Winning campaigns are fueled by real, organic support,” said Michael Tyler, Harris’ campaign communications director.
Amit Ahuja, a professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose research focuses on the processes of inclusion and exclusion in multiethnic societies, said that “no campaign will say no” to groups from diverse backgrounds organizing themselves and building enthusiasm and fundraising.
But he said it’s up to the candidate to embrace support from individual groups while also offering a larger personal story that can resonate with the larger country as a whole. One example, he said, is then-candidate Barack Obama, who rose above early campaign questions about racial identities to build a narrative around his personal story and hopes.
“This is a challenge for both parties. This is a neck-and-neck race. They both have to put together the largest coalition possible. And by focusing on one identity or the other, they can really hurt themselves,” Ahuja said. He said the best response is to urge voters to “look at the candidate, not the groups.”
The calls for Harris often include celebrities who have supported Biden’s campaign in the pastAnd their sheer numbers show how the vice president will have to appeal to different facets of an increasingly pluralistic population.
The political networking group Win With Black Women held a Zoom meeting the same night Biden quit, and saw attendance swell to more than 44,000. There were celebratory speeches from activists, business leaders, members of Congress and staff from the vice president’s office.
Afterward, a virtual “Win With Black Men” fundraising event drew more than 53,000 attendees. They heard several presentations, including from 27-year-old Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, who has been a leading advocate for Biden’s campaign among younger voters, and Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia.
A “White Women for Harris” Zoom drew more than 164,000 attendees — so many that the platform struggled to keep up with demand. Headliners included singer Pink, soccer star Megan Rapinoe and actor Connie Britton.
Trump’s campaign has also organized different groups of supporters based on their specific backgrounds, including events in swing states like Pennsylvania and Georgia for black voters and “Latino Americans for Trump.”
Some Republicans have criticized Harris for her “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies, arguing that the vice president’s political career has been helped by Democratic efforts to promote diversity. That’s despite House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders on Capitol Hill discouraging lines of criticism they see as racist and sexist — instead urged party members to focus their criticism on Harris’ political record.
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who announced just before Monday night’s call began that he would not be considered as Harris’ running mate, asked the audience about GOP attacks: “A DEI candidate?”
“This is what they say, that women and people of color don’t deserve to lead,” Cooper said. “We know better, guys.”
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Associated Press reporters Matt Brown in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.