“White Dudes for Harris” features Jeff Bridges, celebrities and lawmakers

The most prominent celebrity was actor Jeff Bridges, who was introduced as “Dude-in-Chief.” He played The Dude in the 1998 film “The Big Lebowski,” and joked, “I qualify too…I'm white, I'm a guy, and I support Harris.”

Participants expressed enthusiasm and excitement for the campaign, but also joked about the lack of diversity on the call. “There's so many different kinds of white people here. It's like a beige rainbow!” actor Bradley Whitford of “The White Wing” told attendees. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (Democrat) joked about the White Dudes rally, saying, “Normally I wouldn't want to attend this, but it's a great cause.”

Organizer Ross Morales Rocket acknowledged a more serious motive for organizing the call: “The left has ceded white male power to the MAGA right for too long,” he said, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan popularized by Trump.

“Tonight, that ends, because we know that the silent majority of white men are not actually MAGA supporters. They are people, just like you, who want a better life for their families.”

As The Washington Post previously reported, majorities of white men have long supported Republican presidential candidates, and Trump won a majority of white male voters in 2020. President Biden ultimately managed to assemble a large enough coalition of voters in key states to win by large margins among young people, non-white voters, college graduates and independents.

Harris' campaign has had to deal with attacks focused on her gender and racial identity, with one Republican accusing her of being unqualified and a “DEI vice president,” and many political observers widely speculating that to garner the broadest support for her candidacy, the running mate would have to be a white man.

During a conference call on Monday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg positioned Harris' campaign as one for “freedom.”

“Men will be more free if the leader of the free world and the leader of this country supports access to contraception and IVF,” he told the online rally.

The White Dudes fundraiser has no official affiliation to Harris, but the group said it has raised significant amounts of money through matching funds and the sale of merchandise such as its popular trucker hats.

In her speech, Bridges paid tribute to Black Women for Harris, the group that has inspired a wave of copycat fundraisers: “Kamala is truly on our side. A woman president, how amazing! And I support her in everything she does for women's rights and on the environment.”

Bridges also made time to incorporate his character's catchphrase in The Big Lebowski, joking at one point, “Whatever the Dude might say, that's just my opinion.”

In addition to raising funds for Harris' campaign, the speakers hoped to inspire supporters ahead of what is expected to be a fierce race.

“It was an honor to address this gathering of guys right after The Dude,” Buttigieg said, referring to Bridges. “The atmosphere right now is incredible,” Buttigieg said of the Harris campaign. “The momentum is off the charts.”

“I've never felt this kind of conviction, this kind of enthusiasm before. I want people to have fun,” Whitford said.

A similar Zoom fundraiser was organized to support Harris' candidacy after President Biden announced in early July that he was dropping out of the presidential race.

A Zoom call hosted by Win with Black Women in support of Harris drew more than 44,000 participants and raised more than $1.5 million, according to organizers. Participants included Bernice King, the youngest child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), 85, the oldest Black woman serving in Congress; and Donna Brazile, a two-time acting chair of the Democratic National Committee. The event also led to calls for similar fundraising efforts for Black men and Latino women.