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The Kamala Harris campaign for president kicked off on Sunday, but the vice president has already hit the jackpot. Over the last few weeks, her past public statements have sparked viral social media trends about falling out of coconut trees; stan armies behind popular musicians have started to back her in the race; and in just one day, her campaign has already brought in over $81 million in donations, according to a statement released Monday.
ActBlue, the online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates, hosts a donation tracker that updates every 15 minutes. For the week of tracking beginning Sunday, July 21 — when President Joe Biden officially announced the end of his reelection campaign and endorsed VP Harris — the amount raised is shown to have surpassed $100 million, as of Monday afternoon. With less than two days of tracking, it’s already the largest weekly gross the party has seen since the week of the 2020 election, when donations surpassed $121 million.
The platform isn’t the only one faucet pouring money into the Harris campaign. Democratic donors have pledged $150 million in support via Future Forward, the Biden-boosted Super PAC, according to Politico. “Future Forward will continue working to make sure Donald Trump is defeated in this election and those dangerous consequences are never felt by the American people,” Future Forward told the outlet.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, the Super PAC had already banked $122 million at the beginning of the month. The influx of commitments depicts a shift in action after a number of key Democratic players considered withholding donations following the alarm-raising Biden-Trump debate in late June. The website that previously hosted information on Joe Biden’s campaign now automatically redirects to the ActBlue landing page for donations towards Harris’ campaign.
The site includes the portion of the president’s withdrawal letter in which he announces his support for his vice president. “For my part: my very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made,” the post reads. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”
Harris has received an influx of endorsements from members of the Democratic Party. In a joint statement, Bill and Hillary Clinton wrote: “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.” Sens. Patty Murray, Tim Kaine, and Elizabeth Warren have also backed Harris. “We have many talented people in our party, but Vice President Harris is the person who was chosen by the voters to succeed Joe Biden if needed,” Warren said in a statement. “She can unite our party, take on Donald Trump, and win in November.”
But Harris isn’t in the nominee just yet. The Democratic National Committee has said that it intends to “undertake a transparent and orderly process” to select a nominee. “This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party,” the DNC said in a statement. “Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.”
In her own statement, Harris declared: “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
