White Dudes For Harris Online Rally Raises Millions In Donations But Then Sees X Account Suspended
UPDATE: The White Dudes for Harris X account is back up.
“After a groundswell of complaints to Elon Musk from the White Dudes for Harris community, our account was reinstated & we’re allowed to post again,” the group said this afternoon.
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Ross Morales Rocketto, key organizer of the group, wrote that it was “funny” that after the call on Monday night, which raised more than $4 million for Kamala Harris’ campaign, “Elon Musk suspended our account as I got hundreds of insults and memes from white supremacist bot accounts that are still active.”
PREVIOUSLY: A White Dudes for Harris online rally raised more than $4M in donations in a matter of hours but then saw its X account suspended, prompting concern from organizers.
Among those to contribute to the virtual You Tube event were J.J. Abrams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Groban, Sean Astin, Michael Kelly, Josh Gad, Jeff Bridges and Mark Hamill.
But organizers soon found their X account suspended. According to a notification from X, posted by one organizer, the account was suspended “for violating our rules against evading suspension”. The justification drew derision and concern from those who took part in the call.
One claimed: “We scared @elonmusk and @DonaldTrumpJr so much tonight they suspended our account and won’t let us back in. These guys are running scared of the success we’ve had tonight, but we’re not going to quit. More coming tomorrow (unless they shut my account too!).
We scared @elonmusk and @DonaldJTrumpJr so much tonight they suspended our account and won't let us back in
These guys are running scared of the success we've had tonight, but we're not going to quit.
More coming tomorrow (unless they shut down my account too!)… pic.twitter.com/fU2OrqFFRv— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) July 30, 2024
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill, who took part in the call, said: “In a little over 3 hours the @dudes4harris Zoom call triggered $4M in donations for @KamalaHarris….Apparently, someone else was triggered too.”
In a little over 3 hours, the @dudes4harris Zoom call triggered $4M in donations for @KamalaHarris.
Apparently, someone else was triggered, too. ?? pic.twitter.com/Ty8frdXHAZ— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) July 30, 2024
Others online have suggested the suspension may have come about due to multiple accounts with a similar name claiming legitimacy.
The suspension comes one day after some X users were left angry by Elon Musk’s retweet and celebration of a deepfake AI video denigrating Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and the Democrats. Critics claimed this post in itself contravened X’s rules regarding disinformation.
The White Dudes for Harris online rally saw peak viewership reach 150,000, organizers said.
“I can see her being President,” Bridges said. “A woman president, man, how exciting.”
The event was based in part on the success of a Black Women for Harris online rally last week, which was followed by other fundraising events, including White Women for Harris.
Also appearing on the call last night were Vice President hopefuls such as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Filmmaker JJ Abrams pledged $50,000 on the call. As did NYU Professor Scott Galloway after a Star Wars-themed request, in which Hamill said “I’m Luke Skywalker, and I’m here to rescue you, Mr. Galloway.”
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