The business leaders supporting Kamala Harris
In August, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign raised $361 million, nearly three times the funds raised by the Trump campaign.The Harris campaign reported that the funds were raised through three million individual contributions, of which 1.3 million had not made any contributions in 2020. Over the last few weeks, it has become clear that the Democratic Party is interested in courting moderate Republicans who were unwilling to vote for Donald Trump or Joe Biden. This strategy shows signs of working in the fundraising data, with one in five donations coming from registered Republicans or independents.These voters might find Harris’ candidacy attractive as major names in the business world coalesce around her campaign. Meanwhile, other voters see these endorsements as the private sector throwing its support behind a candidate who will protect their financial interests.Liberal capital coalesces around Kamala HarrisMajor figures like billionaire Mark Cuban have come out in strong support of the vice president, arguing that she “is listening to business people and getting their feedback on what’s fair and what will lead to more investment in business.” Cuban cited a policy proposal by the Harris campaign that endorses a 28 percent tax on capital gains. President Biden proposed the same tax but at a rate of 39.6 percent, and Cubans interpreted Harris’s decision to lower the rate as taking into consideration the needs of business.Kamala Harris is listening to business people and getting their feedback on what’s fair and what will lead to more investment in business. She is Pro Business. More supportive of entrepreneurs than any candidate in a long time. It’s only going to get better https://t.co/YgSZNWXGuv— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 4, 2024
Some supporters of Donald Trump tried to organize a boycott of Netflix. This was in response to co-founder Reed Hastings announcing his endorsement of Kamala Harris and donating $7 million to her campaign through a super PAC. Many activists and policymakers believe that super PACs enable wealthy individuals to secretly funnel money to political candidates, which they see as a corrupting influence in US politics.Congrats to Kamala Harris — now it is time to win— Reed Hastings (@reedhastings) July 23, 2024
The son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, has endorsed the vice president’s candidacy; so have Melinda French Gates, former Time Warner CEO; Jeff Bewkes; and Daniel H. Schulman, former CEO of PayPal.