Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign still has its hand out for donations, weeks after losing the election to President-elect Trump.
‘With Trump nominating MAGA loyalists left and right, there is nothing more important than making sure we can fight back and hold him accountable,’ an email from Kamala HQ sent to the New York Post last week read. ‘That’s why we need you to step up today. Yes, today.’
‘Our records show that you haven’t pitched in to support our Harris Fight Fund program yet,’ the email continued, according to the New York Post. ‘We know the election didn’t turn out as we’d hoped, but we’re not backing down.’
Trump was declared the victor in the presidential election last month, ultimately securing 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226, and earning the popular vote as well. The election also included the Republican Party reclaiming the Senate and maintaining control of the House.
Weeks after the election, however, emails asking for donations keep hitting the inboxes of supporters.
‘Even a quick donation of $50 is enough to help us in this fight,’ a fundraising email to donors two weeks after the election read, according to Politico. ‘And with only hours left to hit our goal today, NOW is the best time to rush your support.’
‘Please do not click away,’ another email stated, according to the outlet.
The Harris campaign kicked off in earnest at the beginning of August, after President Biden dropped out of the race amid mounting concern over his mental acuity and age. The Harris campaign raised about $1.4 billion across her few months as the Democratic nominee, but allegedly faces $20 million in debt, according to sources who spoke to Politico.
The campaign denied outstanding debts as of Election Day, and won’t report owed debts in reports due to the Federal Election Commission this month, the outlet reported.
The Harris campaign faced scrutiny shortly after Election Day when reports spread the campaign paid $1 million to Oprah Winfrey’s production company for a campaign event, millions of dollars on private jets, $500,000 to Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network nonprofit ahead of a friendly interview on MSNBC, and other expenses.
Political candidates ending a campaign with debt is not out of the norm, but some Democrats remarked that repeated emails calling on voters to donate following the election is likely eroding trust.
‘I understand that the Harris campaign is in a very difficult position with the debt that they have, and so sometimes you just have to make practical decisions,’ Mike Nellis, founder of the Democratic digital firm Authentic, told Politico. ‘But yeah, I think that stuff like that erodes trust.’
‘Getting fundraising requests after any candidate has lost, when they admit that they are still millions of dollars in debt, having blown through over a billion dollars… is especially galling,’ Democratic strategist Jon Reinish told the New York Post.
A Harris campaign official told Politico that the post-election fundraising emails do not request donors contribute any more than they did during the campaign cycle, and that some of the fundraising was necessary in order to effectively shut down the campaign while retaining some employees to ensure that mission.
As reports spread last month that the campaign was in debt, Trump trolled the Harris team on social media, calling on MAGA supporters to do ‘whatever we can do to help them.’
‘I am very surprised that the Democrats, who fought a hard and valiant fight in the 2020 Presidential Election, raising a record amount of money, didn’t have lots of $’s left over,’ Trump posted to X days after the election last month.
‘Now they are being squeezed by vendors and others. Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do,’ he continued, ‘We have a lot of money left over in that our biggest asset in the campaign was ‘Earned Media,’ and that doesn’t cost very much. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign regarding the continued donor emails and alleged millions of dollars in debt, but did not receive an immediate response.