'White dudes' raise over $4 million for Kamala Harris, discuss women's rights

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A star-studded live video call urging white men to vote for Kamala Harris raised about $4 million on Monday night for the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, attracting over 190,000 people including 'Star Wars' actor Mark Hamill and singer Josh Groban.

The "White Dudes for Harris" event, which lasted over three hours, centered on how and why white men should help elect Harris, currently the vice president, in the Nov. 5 presidential election against Republican rival Donald Trump.

Trump won the votes of over 60% of U.S. white men in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, said organizer Ross Morales Rocketto, founder of "Run for Something."

"If white guys would just show up, if we would stand up and be counted, if we would talk about what it really means to be a great partner, and a man, which is to protect, and to help, and to lift up, and to not push down, all of us are going to be better for it," Mitch Landrieu, a Harris campaign co-chair, said during the call.

The call is the latest in a series of video calls for Harris that have attracted large audiences and raised millions, sparked by one held by Black women the evening President Joe Biden stepped aside from the race and endorsed her.

Other guests included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, actor Jeff Bridges, who explained his presence on the call by noting his role as "The Dude" in the classic film 'The Big Lebowski,' North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

"What a variety of whiteness we have here," said actor Bradley Whitford, who starred in the movie 'Get Out' and the hit TV show 'The West Wing.' "We got The Dude. We got Pete (Buttigieg). It's like a rainbow of, uh, beige."

Speakers emphasized that white men benefit from supporting others' rights, and especially reproductive rights for women, a key campaign issue for Harris and Democrats in the election.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and filmmaker J.J. Abrams each promised to match $50,000 in donations raised during the call, which sparked over 60,000 individual contributions, Morales Rocketto said.

"Smash that donate button," 'Frozen' actor Josh Gad implored attendees.

More than 40,000 people previously joined a call for Black women supporters. One for Black men drew over 50,000 people and there have been separate calls for South Asian women and LGBTQ allies. Over 200,000 joined a call for white women and raised over $11 million.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington)