Democratic leaders worry that with the Harris-Waltz campaign crossing the finish line tens of millions of dollars in debt, it could now become a problem for the party.
Party officials are currently scrutinizing how the campaign spent its money, which raised more than $1 billion before Election Day. FEC filings have already shown shocking payments to celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and tens of millions of dollars for event spending and social media influence.
“How do you raise historic amounts of money and not win a single battleground state?” one Harris aide told Axios. “The honest answer is, we don't know. It seems like we've lost our national narrative and we need to diagnose it.”
Harris' campaign expected results to be delayed on Election Day, and officials planned to continue fundraising in the days leading up to vote counting, according to reports.
The Harris campaign reportedly spent six figures on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, which has fewer than 1 million views on YouTube.
Harris' campaign has raised more than $1 billion, but Democratic officials are concerned that she ended the campaign with a huge debt. (Megan Mendoza/Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
But that reality never materialized, as it quickly became clear that President-elect Trump had walked away victorious.
According to FEC filings, the Harris campaign sent complaints to Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo, one month after Winfrey appeared with Harris at a town hall event, and again at a rally in Philadelphia before the election. It was revealed on October 15th, a few weeks before she went on stage, that she had been paid $500,000 in two separate payments. day.
Harris campaign and allies lost race to Trump, spending more than $1.4 billion on political ads
Winfrey herself denied accepting the payment, but Harpo claimed the payment was to cover production costs for the surrounding event.
Oprah Winfrey's production company Harpo accepted two $500,000 payments from the Harris campaign. (Getty Images)
The campaign also donated $4 million to Village Marketing Agency, a company that connects clients with social media influencers.
The long list of celebrities who joined Harris' campaign included Beyoncé, Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Bruce Springsteen.
The Washington Examiner also reported that the Harris campaign spent more than $12 million on digital media consultants to “build a set for Harris to appear on the popular podcast Call Her Daddy with host Alex Cooper.” “We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
The Harris campaign spent tens of millions of dollars on concert-like rallies and extensive television advertising. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
FEC records show the campaign has spent at least $15 million on “event production,” much of it tied to high-profile events and concerts featuring celebrity attendees and performers.
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“The truth is, this is just an epic disaster, this is a billion-dollar disaster,” Harris' surrogate and DNC National Finance Committee member Lindy Lee said on Saturday's “Fox & Friends Weekend.” told.
FOX News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
