One area of focus in the aftermath of Vice President Kamala Harris’ Election Day defeat to President-Elect Donald Trump has been the Democrat infighting over how the $1 billion Harris raised during her short campaign for president was spent.
She used substantial amounts, seemingly to buy celebrity endorsements, not to mention the $15-20 million spent on the election eve concerts held across the country, all of which has ushered forth a lot of second-guessing and finger-pointing.
The campaign now finds itself some $20 million in debt and has been busy sending daily emails to supporters asking for more money. Notes in the emails claim the money will go to help the Democratic National Committee fund recounts in down-ballot races. Numerous campaign officials, however, have disputed that, according to NBC News, saying “it appeared the requests were meant to pay down debt,” with some calling the move “appalling” and “disgusting”:
Now, less than a week since the vice president conceded the contest, it not only has run out of money, it’s still asking for more. The campaign emails and texts, known for their ubiquity throughout the election, aren’t expected to stop anytime soon.
“Hi Team, It’s Kamala, The election isn’t what we wanted, but I will never give up the fight,” a text message sent Tuesday said. “And right now there are still a number of critical races across the country that are either too close to call, or within the margin of recounts or certain legal challenges.”
[…]But several campaign officials questioned that contention, saying it appeared the requests were meant to pay down debt. One senior campaign official called the practice of asking supporters for more money after losing decisively and having taken in so much money as “appalling” and another described it as “disgusting.” A third person who was flooded with complaints from donors questioned how Democrats could save their credibility moving forward.
Just days after the election, reports were swirling that some rank-and-file staffers had not received their last two weeks of pay, but that was disputed by at least one:
Though that may be the case with mid-level staffers, senior staffers in the Harris campaign weren’t so lucky as they were informed this past week that there was not enough in the coffers to pay them through the end of the year:
From the story:
Internally, the apparent cash crunch is being blamed for the campaign’s decision to stop paying many senior staff as of Saturday, even those initially told they would be paid through the end of the year. Facing internal frustration, the campaign notified those affected in recent days that their health insurance would be covered through the end of the year, according to one person with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.
Interestingly, reports of staffers leaking internal discussions to the media come not long after an all-staff call where campaign higher-ups reportedly “pleaded” with staffers not to talk to the press:
In an all-staff call Thursday night, campaign leaders pleaded with staffers to not talk to reporters, according to four people on the call who spoke with Axios.
I don’t know what’s worse: the Kamala Harris campaign’s egregious mismanagement of funds or Kamala Harris herself. Guess it doesn’t matter in the end because ultimately thanks to both of those things they were doomed to fail.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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