After the hugely successful White Dudes for Kamala Harris mobilization call on Monday, the group's X account, @Dudes4Harris, was mysteriously suspended, prompting many to call out the platform's owner, billionaire Elon Musk, for his hypocrisy.
Musk, a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist," has repeatedly insisted that Twitter needs to go private if it wants to become a platform for free speech, though he has repeatedly come under fire for silencing his critics and spreading misinformation.
The account was suspended just hours after the group held a virtual call on Monday night that raised more than $4 million for Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. It was eventually restored following backlash though neither X nor Musk have responded to requests for comment.
Organizer Ross Morales Rocketto commented shortly after becoming aware of the suspension, saying the account "got [Musk] scared."
Fundraiser and marketer Mike Nellis, who is involved in the group, made similar remarks from his own account, writing:
"We scared [Musk] and [Donald Trump Jr.] so much tonight they suspended our account and won't let us back in. These guys are running scared of the success we've had tonight, but we're not going to quit."
Brett Meiselas, the co-founder of MeidasTouch, said the account's suspension is "the real election interference."
Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, a prominent Musk critic, noted that the White Dudes for Harris Zoom call "triggered" $4 million in donations for Harris' campaign and threw in the following jab at Musk:
"Apparently, someone else was triggered, too."
White Dudes for Harris' Zoom fundraiser featured celebrities such as Jeff Bridges, Mark Ruffalo, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The event also included appearances from prominent Democratic politicians, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. The group reported that 190,000 people joined the call.
This fundraiser was the latest in a series of events targeting different identity groups, following successful calls with Black women, white women, and Black men. While these fundraising calls are not organized by Harris' campaign team, they highlight the growing grassroots support she has received since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Rocketto acknowledged that the group's name might make some people uncomfortable but noted that American history has presented "a lot of evidence to suggest that, when white men organize, it's often with pointy hats on, and it doesn't end well."
He said the group is trying to "engage a group of people that the left has largely ignored for the last few years," underscoring that Republicans have generally relied on the support of white working-class men, a demographic that Democrats have struggled to attract.
Many have called out Musk's hypocrisy, alleging he retaliated against the undeniable support for Harris since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her.
The group's suspension occurred days after Musk shared a video featuring an AI-generated voice mimicking Kamala Harris, making statements she never actually said.
Musk, who recently endorsed former President Donald Trump, dismissed concerns about AI-generated misinformation, calling the video "a joke."
In the meantime, the @dudes4harris account is back up:
@EdwardLawrence/X
