‘White Dudes for Harris†— including The Dude himself — raise over $4M

After Black Women for Harris and White Women for Harris, it was the turn of “White Dudes for Harris� — where almost 200,000 people, including the actor who plays “The Dude� himself, helped raise over $4 million during a fundraising Zoom call, according to organizers.

The more than three-hour-long online call saw actors Mark Hamill, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sean Astin and Josh Gad among the men expressing support for Vice President Harrisâ€s presidential bid, alongside â€N Sync star Lance Bass and a host of Democrat politicians.

Most notable among the celebrities was a man introduced as the “dude in chief,â€� actor Jeff Bridges, who played The Dude in “The Big Lebowski,â€� released in 1998, and joked: “I qualify … Iâ€m White, Iâ€m a dude and Iâ€m for Harris.â€�

Attendees expressed enthusiasm and excitement for the campaign — while also joking about the lack of diversity on the call. “What a variety of Whiteness we have here … itâ€s like a rainbow of beige!â€� actor Bradley Whitford of “The West Wingâ€� told the group. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) teased that a White Dudes gathering “doesnâ€t usually sound like something I would join, but this is a terrific cause.â€�

Organizer Ross Morales Rocketto also acknowledged more serious motivations for organizing the call. “The left has been ceding White men to the MAGA right for way, way too long,� he said referencing the slogan popularized by Trump, “Make American Great Again.�

“Thatâ€s going to stop tonight, because we know that the silent majority of White men arenâ€t actually MAGA supporters. Theyâ€re folks like you who just want a better life for their families.â€�

A majority of White men have long sided with Republican presidential nominees, and Trump won a majority of White male voters in 2020, The Post previously reported. President Biden ultimately won by assembling a large enough coalition of voters in key states, winning margins among young and non-White voters, college graduates and independents.

Harrisâ€s campaign has had to contend with attacks focused on her gender and racial identity — with one Republican lawmaker calling her unqualified and a “DEI vice president,â€� and many political pundits widely presume that her expected vice-presidential pick will have to be a White male to give her ticket the broadest appeal.

During Mondayâ€s call, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg framed Harrisâ€s campaign as one for “freedom.â€�

“Men are more free when the leader of the free world and the leader of this country supports access to birth control and to IVF,� he told the online gathering.

The White Dudes fundraiser has no official affiliation with Harris but large amounts of money were raised through matched funds and merchandise sales, including a popular trucker hat, the group said.

During his speech, Bridges paid homage to Black Women for Harris for inspiring a wave of copycat fundraising calls. “Kamala is so certainly our girl … a woman president, man, so exciting! And her championing of womenâ€s rights, Iâ€m for that, and for all her stance on the environment.â€�

Bridges also managed to work in his characterâ€s catchphrase in “The Big Lebowski,â€� quipping at one point: “As the Dude might say: Thatâ€s just my opinion, man.â€�

In addition to raising funds for Harrisâ€s campaign, speakers hoped to energize supporters ahead of what is expected to be an intense race.

Buttigieg said it was an “honor� to address “this convening of dudes, right after The Dude,� referencing Bridges. “The vibes right now are incredible,� Buttigieg said of the Harris campaign. “The momentum is extraordinary.�

“Iâ€ve never felt this kind of belief, this kind of enthusiasm ever. I want us to enjoy it,â€� Whitford said.

Similar zoom fundraiser calls have been organized to support Harrisâ€s presidential bid after President Biden announced the end of his candidacy earlier in July.

More than 44,000 people logged onto a Zoom call organized by Win With Black Women to support Harris, raising over $1.5 million, organizers said. The call featured Bernice King, the youngest child of Martin Luther King Jr.; 85-year-old Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the most senior Black woman in the House; and Donna Brazile, the two-time acting chair of the Democratic National Committee.That event also helped inspire similar fundraising calls for Black men and Latinas.