“Mark Hamill using the force…what we learned last night is that we are in this together. And being in this together means that from now until the election, WE are a force.”
Many left-wing white men gathered on a zoom call on Monday evening for an event that many have described as "cringe" on social media. The "White Dudes for Harris" event featured many well-known left-wing actors and political figures who made the case that white men should be able to organize around supporting Harris for the presidency. The Zoom meeting is one of many that have been held specifically for "affinity groups."
As the event began, speakers were introduced by the host, the first one to speak, aside from the host in charge of the "White Dudes for Harris" event, was a black man named Maurice Mitchell. He is the National Director for the Working Families Party and was a leader in the BLM movement.
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During his segment, he told the white dudes on the call that "white nationalists and MAGA want to speak for you."
"I get it, as part of the vast majority of white men that are not a part of that extremist movement that has turned into a cult, you're focusing on your life, you're doing good in your personal life and doing no harm out in the world, and that can feel like enough. But in these times, silently disagreeing is not enough," Mitchell told the white men on the call.
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The host of the event, Ross Morales Rocketto, opened up the Zoom saying, “A lot of people feel and felt uncomfortable about the call, and I think that's understandably so." Morales Rocketto added that "throughout American history, when white men have organized it’s often with pointy hats on.”
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Other speakers included Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, a Kamala surrogate, who openly said that women having access to abortions makes "men more free" in the US, suggesting that men who have sex with women won't have to worry about the consequence of an unplanned pregnancy.
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Several actors who have been critical of Trump also appeared on the call, including Star Wars' Mark Hamill, who took time to talk about the "White Dudes" flocking to Harris as she has launched her bid for the presidency.
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Hamill said that Trump is going to "remake what we know as democracy into an autocracy" and said that Trump "yearns to be" a dictator, adding that people must stand up to Trump's "mental illness and vote for Kamala in 2024." In a follow-up email to the zoom call, the organizers said that Hamill was "using the force," calling back to his role as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
The email after the event added, "What we learned last night is that we are in this together. And being in this together means that from now until the election, WE are a force."
Broadway actor Rory O'Malley, known for his role in Book of Mormon, a parody musical about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, added to the conversation.
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O'Malley said that Harris is the “embodiment of the backbone of the progressive movement” because she is a "black woman," and said that white men need to support her for the presidency, adding that minority women have been the backbone to support progressive white men.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) also made an appearance on the "White Dudes" call, and said that with Harris, the country will be able to "reform the Supreme Court." Biden has just launched an initiative to heavily overhaul many decades of precedent on the court.
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"We have the ability to reinforce and strengthen and preserve our democracy. We have the ability to make an incredible woman the president of the United States. We have the ability to restore reproductive freedom," Schiff added. Democrats have often spoken about how Trump is a heavy threat to Democracy and to respect institutions of the US, but Biden as well as Schiff in this instance seem to push for an overhaul of decades of precedent for SCOTUS.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board recently came out against many of the steps Biden has taken, calling it a "Political Assault on the Supreme Court."
In addition to Schiff, Rep. Eric Swalwell came on the call and appeared to give talking points to the other white guys present, saying that because Trump made the race all about Biden's age, that with Harris gone the Democrats should now refer to Trump as "DonOld Trump" instead of Donald Trump.
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The event raised $4 million for the Harris campaign and the YouTube livestream had a peak of about 64,000 viewers, per the New York Post. They group also sold baseball caps that say, "White Dudes for Harris" in order to raise the funds.