‘White women’ and ‘white dudes’ pledge their allegiance to Kamala Harris. Talk about weird.
Imagine for a minute that supporters of former President Donald Trump advertised fundraising calls that would be only for “white women” and “white men.”
The uproar among the left – and the news media – would be immediate, and accusations of racism and sexism would surely follow.
Yet, if Democrats do it, apparently it’s A-OK.
In recent days, that’s exactly what has happened. On Thursday, nearly 200,000 white women hopped on a two-hour Zoom call and reportedly raised at least $11 million for newly anointed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
And then, not to be outdone, a bunch of self-proclaimed “white dudes” joined a call Monday to do the same (although they couldn’t raise as much as the women did).
Other groups have held similar calls, including Win With Black Women, Latinas for Harris, Win With Black Men, and Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris.
Harris, who is in the honeymoon period of her newfound candidacy now that President Joe Biden’s been booted, has taken to calling Trump and his running mate JD Vance “weird.”
I would counter that these segregated fundraisers are just plain weird, but they also speak to the Democratic Party’s obsession with race and gender.
Erasing history: To prove fealty to Kamala Harris, the media gaslights voters by rewriting her past
This feels like a replay of Hillary Clinton in 2016
Since I am a white woman, I want to focus on the “White Women: Answer The Call” fundraiser, which featured celebrities and Democratic politicians. (Spoiler: It’s an insufferable two hours.)
TikTok influencer and former kindergarten teacher Arielle Fodor, one of the speakers on the call, addressed the grown women as if they were children: “As white women, we need to use our privilege to make positive changes. If you find yourself talking over or speaking for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) individuals or, God forbid, correcting them, just take a beat and instead we can put our listening ears on.”
Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, spearheaded the idea for the fundraiser after she saw Black women holding their own call.
“Bad news: White women vote for Republicans, even when it’s against their best interests, due to privilege, systemic racism and sexism and, of course, the patriarchy,” Watts recently wrote on X.
“Good news: We’re the largest voting bloc, but an unpredictable one ? the smallest shifts in our voting behavior can swing election outcomes. In other words, if we start doing the work right now, we can create a shift in voting momentum that will help elect Kamala Harris as President in just 100 days.”
Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.
If I’m reading that right, the only reason “white women” would vote for a Republican is because they’ve been brainwashed in some way – or because of their “privilege.” That must explain why 47% of white women supported Trump in 2016 and even more – 53% – did so in 2020.
Talk about insulting.
This brings me right back to 2016, when Hillary Clinton faced off with Trump. Clinton never forgave the women who didn’t vote for her and even wrote a book – “What Happened” – detailing how she refused to give "absolution” to these women, who must have been told what to do by their husbands or boyfriends.
Democrats have made this race all about identity politics
Harris will never get my vote because of her far-left policies. Period. It has nothing to do with her race or the fact she’s a woman.
Yet, Democrats are returning to the same playbook they used in 2016: That the fact Harris could be the first female U.S. president (along with her other inherent traits of being Black and South Asian) is more important than whether she is actually a good candidate.
Clinton wasn’t, and I don’t think Harris is, either.
Democrats claim they’re offended by how Harris has been referred to by those on the right as a “DEI” candidate, even though her race and gender are central to most mainstream media articles about her. (Heaven forbid, however, any Republican mention these things.)
Welcome retreat from DEI: DEI is unraveling at our universities. Good riddance to a failed and divisive bureaucracy.
There is no question that Biden offered her the job as vice president after her failed presidential run because of her race. Remember that Biden had promised to choose a woman as his running mate, but when he vetted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (who is white), Biden was quickly chided by Black women.
Democrats do a disservice to their voters – and the country – if they believe a candidate’s immutable characteristics should drive support.
Women were expected to fall in lockstep behind Clinton eight years ago.
They didn’t then. And they won’t now with Harris.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White dudes for Harris is weird, but also fits Democratic script
