In the course of human history, politically oriented gatherings of white people have not typically been a sign of “fun.” Gatherings of white men in particular have historically cultivated an ominous vibe: think the Unite the Right rally, many European land wars, English football hooligans, or Congress. Basically, unless you’re at a Phish concert, seeing a bunch of white guys on a mission can be an unsettling thing. But Democratic organizer Ross Morales Rocketto decided something needed to be done to activate white dudes for the sake of progressive politics, so he set up an online rally called “White Dudes for Harris” that took place July 29. “What we are really trying to do is engage a group of people whom the left has largely ignored for the last few years,” he told the New York Times. “There’s a silent majority of white men who aren’t MAGA Republicans, and we haven’t done anything to try to capture those votes.”
Of course, guys like Donald Trump Jr. attempted to slur the gathering by calling them “cucks.” But it’s really hard to effectively wield a slur that hasn’t been edgy in ten years against guys like Jeff Bridges, Mark Hamill, and J.J. Abrams, all of whom were part of this big white dude gathering that ended up raising almost $4 million for the Harris campaign. Some of this was generated through sales of ‘White Dudes for Harris” trucker hats, which Rocketto joked were not “pointy” like the hats worn at the white dude rallies of yore. Also on the “White Dudes” call: VP hopefuls Pete Buttigieg, Tim Walz, and J.B. Pritzker; musicians Josh Groban and Lance Bass; and actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Gad, Paul Scheer, and Sean Astin. But it was West Wing actor Bradley Whitford who won the pull quote of the day by saying: “What a variety of whiteness we have here, it’s like a rainbow of beige.” Heh.
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