‘White dudes’ rally to elect Kamala Harris as the first female president

Some well-known “white dudes” — together with the man who performed “The Dude” — rallied in assist of Vice President Kamala Harris, who can be the primary feminine president if elected, within the inaugural occasion of a brand new group known as White Dudes for Harris on Monday night time.

The identify could also be a bit facetious, however the star-studded Zoom name attracted greater than 180,000 individuals and raised nearly $4 million, in response to organizers, who’re themselves a bunch of white dude Democratic political operatives. 

Over the practically 3½-hour name, they stated, they bought greater than 5,700 White Dudes for Harris trucker caps — “not the sharp ones,” joked Ross Morales Rocketto, one of many organizers, referring to much less PC gatherings of white dudes just like the Ku Klux Klan. 

“All through American historical past, when white males organized, it was typically with pointy hats on,” stated Rocketto earlier than he added how proud he was of this group of white males, who he stated are too hardly ever heard from.

Actor Jeff Bridges, who performed “The Dude” within the cult basic “The Large Lebowski,” was excited when he heard in regards to the gathering of his fellow white dudes.

“I qualify, man! I’m white, I’m a dude, and I’m for Harris,” Bridges stated. “A girl president, man, how thrilling!”

Company included a number of of the white dudes Harris is contemplating to be her vice presidential working mate, together with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who introduced he was withdrawing from consideration moments earlier than the decision started. 

“The vibes are unbelievable,” Buttigieg stated.

Walz, who has shot up the charts of progressives’ favourite white dudes in latest days as he has made the rounds on TV, stated was thrilled by the concept of Harris’ beating former President Donald Trump. 

“Make that bastard get up afterwards and know {that a} Black lady kicked his a– and despatched him on the highway and that’s one thing that man’s going to need to dwell with the remainder of his life,” Walz stated. 

In a world the place illustration issues, the white dudes confirmed up in drive.

There have been white dude singers like Josh Groban and Lance Bass. White dude actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Hamill, Josh Gad, Paul Scheer and Sean Astin. And their white dude boss, director and Hollywood government J.J. Abrams.

There have been additionally loads of white dudes from the world of Democratic politics, like White Home infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, former Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who pledged a $50,000 donation match.

“What a wide range of whiteness we’ve got right here” stated actor Bradley Whitford of “West Wing” fame. “It’s like a rainbow of beige.”

The “white dudes” name got here after comparable calls focused towards Black girls and white girls held in latest weeks.

There have been numerous self-deprecating jokes in regards to the gathering Monday night time — in addition to opening remarks from a Black man, Working Households Occasion Nationwide Director Maurice Mitchell, whose helped reassure any uncomfortable individuals that it was OK to be there. 

However for all of the jokes, the lads additionally spoke candidly and movingly about their conflicted emotions about masculinity, how troublesome it may be to open up emotionally and the way they really feel alienated from different white males, who’re the core of Trump’s assist. 

“Black girls have been displaying as much as vote for progressive white dudes for generations, and it’s time we present up for them,” stated Broadway actor Rory O’Malley, who originated the function of Elder McKinney in “The E-book of Mormon.”

Some stated they felt a uncommon sense of neighborhood and catharsis within the occasion.

“White guys are actually bored with the countless parade of bizarre MAGA Republicans attempting to bend our democracy to its breaking level,” Brad Bauman, a longtime Democratic communications marketing consultant who helped arrange the decision, instructed NBC Information.

“They assume they get us, however they don’t,” Bauman added. “And actually, their darkish imaginative and prescient for our future is simply holding all of us again. That’s why we determined to start out White Dudes for Harris.”