Politics

Kamala Harris lost. Some donors are still funding a ‘victory.’

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

The “victory” part didn’t pan out for the Harris Victory Fund. But the funding part remains alive and well on the bank statements of some Democratic donors.

Two months after Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump, the joint fundraising committee her campaign set up with the Democratic National Committee is still charging monthly recurring donors to the committee. And some donors are not happy.

“It’s silly, out of touch, and needlessly takes advantage of our most loyal supporters,” said a Democratic operative who shared screenshots of their donations. The person was granted anonymity to describe the situation without fear of professional reprisal.

The operative didn’t flinch at a December charge, given the wrap-up expenses associated with any campaign (though the Harris camp entered late November with more than $1.8 million in cash).

But a January charge? The Harris donor said the committee solicited no explicit approval to continue the donations after the election, though it sent emails saying, “Thank you for your generous monthly commitment,” and that the donations will continue “until you contact us.”

The ongoing debits constitute the latest dust-up over the ethics of online fundraising — particularly when it comes to signing up small-dollar donors for recurring credit-card contributions that get set on autopilot.

The 2020 Trump campaign raised gobs of cash in part by making it increasingly difficult for donors to see that they were signing up for monthly automatic donations, including hiding it in pre-checked boxes buried in fine print. Those tactics helped result in more than a half million refunds totalling $64 million for the last two and a half months of 2020 from the Trump campaign, the RNC and joint committees — far outpacing their Democratic counterparts.

The Harris Victory Fund situation is different: No one appears to be disputing that they signed up for monthly withdrawals. But should those contributions continue even after victory has slipped away?

Harris herself told Democrats to “stay in the fight,” a DNC official said. And while a Harris Victory Fund donation page remains active on ActBlue, the fund itself is now defunct and any contributions go directly to the DNC.

“Those HVF donations are going to help Democrats across the country as we rebuild the party,” the official said, adding that donors can cancel anytime.

The fact that the funds are now being redirected, however, raises another ethical quandary: Is that fair to donors who contributed to an entity with Harris’ name on it? The soon-to-be-ex-VP won’t have any access to the money as she evaluates her political future and whether to run for president again, governor of California or stay out of politics.

To many political pros, that is one of many reasons why it should be a best practice to cease drawing on donor bank accounts after Election Day.

A senior digital staffer on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign said all of their recurring donations ended within a few days after his loss. That person said the Harris fund’s decision to continue tapping small-dollar donors was “super shady” and tantamount to “grifting.”

“These people didn’t sign up to be paying bills in January,” the Republican said.

Mike Nellis, head of the Democratic online fundraising firm Authentic, said when his clients’ campaigns end in defeat, “there’s an expectation that they’re going to shut down the recurring donations because there’s no need.”

But he said he was OK with the DNC continuing to pull donations from Harris donors.

“If you’re rolling the committee into something that’s gonna continue to have an impact such as the DNC or another political campaign, I’m more than comfortable continuing the recurring donations so long as it’s transparent to the donor and compliant with ActBlue and the FEC,” he said.

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Politics

Trump explodes at ‘Meet the Press’ host: ‘You’re either crooked or you’re stupid’

Published

51 minutes ago

June 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Jun. 7, 2026, 2:32 PM EDT

In an explosive interview with NBC aired Sunday, President Donald Trump cut the grilling short and left the set after peppering “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker with insults.

“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump told Welker, who kept a cool demeanor despite the president’s barrage of disparaging slurs.

Moments before he attacked her, Trump — without providing any evidence — said he believes elections in the U.S. are rigged. Then he lambasted television news networks, singling out NBC, CBS and ABC.

“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.

“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker shot back. “But let’s continue.”

“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” the president told Welker, who is the second woman and first Black journalist to helm the network’s flagship program.

Trump added, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

It was not the first time Trump has berated a female journalist on the job covering his presidency.

In November 2025, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey to stop talking, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” One month later, he told ABC’s Rachel Scott she was “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.” Last month, he called MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for pointing out that the cost of his White House ballroom project had doubled since it was first announced.

He has also repeatedly lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collinscriticizing her for not smiling enough.

The wide-ranging interview, which was taped last week on a farm in Wisconsin, was interrupted by the loud sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the barn where they met. Welker questioned Trump on his war with Iran, his “anti-weaponization” fund and the upcoming midterm elections.

On his nearly $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating people who say they were wrongly prosecuted, including Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump said “people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated.”

He described the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as people who were “being ushered into the building” by law enforcement.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the fund last month and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration would not be moving forward with the fundwhich faced bipartisan backlash.

When asked if the administration would pursue other avenues to revive it, Trump said he does not know what will ultimately happen and called Welker and her network “the fake dirty press.”

Despite campaigning on a promise to end foreign wars, Trump denied that he made such statements. He characterized the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, as necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

When asked about the rising cost of living as a result of the war, specifically gas and fertilizer, Trump chastised Welker.

“Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don’t listen to the answers,” he said.

“I love the farmers and the farmers love me,” Trump said, adding that prices will come down after the war.

Welker suggested to her viewers Sunday that she and the president had a cordial conversation Saturday, saying they both “acknowledged the complications” posed by the rain. “He agreed to sit down with me for another ‘Meet the Press’ interview,” she said.

Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.