Categories: Politics

Top Democrat officials worried tens of millions in Harris campaign debt could be their problem: report

Top Democratic Party officials are concerned that the Harris-Walz campaign crossed the finish line with tens of millions of dollars in debt that could now be the party’s problem.

Party officials are now scrutinizing how the campaign spent its funds, having raised over $1 billion before Election Day. FEC filings already show shocking payments to celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and tens of millions in event spending and social media influence.

“How do you raise a historic amount of money and not win a single swing state?” one Harris aide told Axios. “The honest answer is: I don’t know. It seems we lost the national narrative, and that’s what we need to diagnose.”

Reports say the Harris campaign expected a delayed result on Election Day, and officials were planning to continue fundraising as votes were counted in the following days.

HARRIS CAMPAIGN REPORTEDLY SPENT 6 FIGURES ON ‘CALL HER DADDY’ PODCAST WITH FEWER THAN 1 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS

The Harris campaign raised over $1 billion, but Democratic officials are concerned it ended the race in massive debt. (Megan Mendoza/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

That reality never materialized, however, as it quickly became apparent that President-elect Trump ran away with the victory.

FEC filings show the Harris campaign made two $500,000 payments to Oprah Winfrey’s production company, Harpo, on Oct. 15, a month after Winfrey appeared with Harris at a town hall event and weeks before Oprah was on stage with Harris at a Philadelphia rally before Election Day.

HARRIS CAMPAIGN AND ALLIES SPENT MORE THAN $1.4B ON POLITICAL ADS IN LOSING RACE AGAINST TRUMP

While Winfrey herself denied accepting any payment, Harpo claimed the payments were meant 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 gave $4 million to Village Marketing Agency, a company that connects clients with social media influencers.

The long list of celebrities that joined Harris on the campaign trail included Beyoncé, Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Bruce Springsteen.

The Washington Examiner also reported that the Harris campaign spent over $12 million on digital media consultants and “spent six figures on building a set for Harris’s appearance on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast with host Alex Cooper.”

The Harris campaign spent tens of millions on concert-like rallies and huge television ads. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The campaign spent at least $15 million on “event production,” FEC records show, with many payments lining up with high profile events and concerts with celebrity attendees or performers.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“The truth is this is just an epic disaster, this is a $1 billion disaster,” Lindy Li, Harris surrogate and DNC National Finance Committee member, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday.

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Share

Recent Posts

Trump picks Dr. Marty Makary as Food and Drug Administration commissioner

President-elect Trump on Friday announced he is nominating Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor Dr. Marty…

10 seconds ago

Trump picks Scott Turner as secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development

President-elect Trump nominated Scott Turner as the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban…

2 hours ago

Trump brings back former aide Sebastian Gorka, ex-State Department official Alex Wong to serve in admin

President-elect Trump on Friday announced that former State Department official Alex Wong will be appointed assistant to…

2 hours ago

Trump picks Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as nation’s next surgeon general

President-elect Trump has nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as surgeon general. In a statement on Friday…

2 hours ago

Trump nominates Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of labor

President-elect Trump announced on Friday he is nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., for secretary of…

2 hours ago

Trump picks former Florida Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon as director of CDC

President-elect Trump announced that former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., is his pick as the…

2 hours ago