Vice President Kamala Harris has been accused of ‘zombie fundraising’ after donors for her failed campaign are still seeing withdrawals from their accounts – over two months after the election.
The former presidential hopeful’s fundraising committee has been reportedly caught charging monthly recurring donors this month, according to Politico.
‘These people didn’t sign up to be paying bills in January,’ a senior digital staffer on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign told the outlet.
The former staffer called Harris ‘super shady’ claiming that the decision to continue tapping small-dollar donors was ‘grifting.’
Even some of the Democratic party’s most loyal donors are turning their backs on the Vice President and continued fundraising.
‘It’s silly, out of touch, and needlessly takes advantage of our most loyal supporters,’ a Democratic operative who shared screenshots of their donations with Politico’s Playbook, said.
However, the unnamed Democratic operative didn’t think twice after seeing a December charge, as there are usually hefty ‘wrap-up expenses’ associated with any campaign.
A month later, over two months since Harris’ election loss, the Dem donor said the committee solicited no explicit approval to continue the donations after the election.
The former Presidential hopeful’s fundraising committee has been reportedly caught charging monthly recurring donors this month
Trump walks out 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
Yet, her fundraising committee sent automated emails that read: ‘Thank you for your generous monthly commitment,’ and that the donations will continue ‘until you contact us.’
A similar dissension revealed itself in 2020 during President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign when fundraising efforts seemingly ‘trapped’ donors into signing up for monthly contributions.
The President-elect’s campaign made their money in part by making it challenging for donors to see that they were signing up for monthly automatic donations, including hiding it in pre-checked boxes buried in fine print.
Such ‘grifting’ tactics resulted in more than $112 million in refunds being issued to donors in 2020.
The case doesn’t appear to be the same for the likes of the Dem donors as no one appears to be disputing that they signed up for monthly withdrawals, Politico reported.
A Harris Victory Fund donation page remains active on ActBlue – an American Democratic Party fundraising platform – however the fund is now defunct and its recurring charges have been redirected to go directly to the DNC.
‘Those HVF donations are going to help Democrats across the country as we rebuild the party,’ a DNC official told Playbook, adding that donors can cancel anytime.
A similar dissension revealed itself in 2020 during President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign when fundraising efforts seemingly ‘trapped’ donors into signing up for monthly contributions
Now, political pros argue that the redirection of funds is ‘unethical’ as the soon-to-be-ex-VP won’t have any access to the money as she evaluates her political future.
Some have even argued that it should be a best practice to cease drawing on donor bank accounts after Election Day.
‘There’s an expectation that they’re going to shut down the recurring donations because there’s no need,’ Mike Nellis, head of the Democratic online fundraising firm Authentic, said.
‘If you’re rolling the committee into something that’s gonna continue to have an impact such as the DNC or another political campaign, I’m more than comfortable continuing the recurring donations so long as it’s transparent to the donor and compliant with ActBlue and the FEC,’ Nellis added.
Harris has since joined a small and rather miserable club consistent of Vice Presidents who have 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, entrusted with the process of declaring the result of a White House election.
Harris, who lost all seven key battleground states to a candidate she called a fascist, has now overcome her final humiliation as she declared Donald Trump the victor.
She follows in the footsteps of Al Gore, vice president to Bill Clinton, who had to certify his defeat to Republican George W. Bush in 2001 after weeks of legal wrangling about hanging chads and small margins in Florida.
Ahead of her ‘final humiliation’ Trump supporters expressed glee at the idea of Harris having to formally declare her Republican opponent as 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 glee at the idea of Harris having to formally declare her Republican opponent as the winner.
‘Kamala has to certify the results of the election Monday….’ conservative comedian Tim Young posted on X. ‘It’s going to be must-see TV.’
Someone going by the handle of MAGA Michelle wrote: ‘The best part about this is that Kamala has to certify her own election ass kicking, bringing back all the embarrassment she must have felt.’
Marc Short, who was chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, said: ‘Nobody gets excited about certifying their own loss, but I think it’s integral to all democracies that there is a peaceful transfer of power.’
He said Harris was not alone in having to perform the role: ‘It has happened to lots of vice presidents,’ he said.
