Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks onstage during a campaign event, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., September 29, 2024.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris’ top allies in the private sector have launched a new campaign that seeks to portray the Democratic nominee as the best candidate for business, and to draw contrasts between her and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Business Leaders for Harris went live with a website early Friday that features online testimonials, both from small business owners and hugely successful entrepreneurs.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Box CEO Aaron Levine all recorded short videos for Harris. Former American Express CEO Ken Chenault and former Merck CEO Ken Frazier also contributed clips.
“Kamala Harris brings order and innovation. Donald Trump brings chaos and fear and hopelessness. We need someone who will bring us hope in a very tangible way and that is Kamala Harris,” Chenault says in his testimonial.
Hastings says he thinks Harris would be even better for business than her boss, President Joe Biden, has been. “In many ways, I think it will be an improvement from the current administration. And one of her differences is the level of interest that she has.”
Hastings was one of a small, vocal group of Democratic donors this summer who called on Biden to drop out of the race after his disastrous June 27 debate against Trump.
All of the executives involved in the project signed an open letter in September endorsing Harris. But some of them have backed up that endorsement with millions of dollars in donations to the new initiative.
Business Leaders for Harris is a project of the Republican Accountability PAC, a progressive political action committee.
The super PAC has already received $6 million this election cycle from Hoffman, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Hastings reportedly made a $7 million donation to the PAC shortly after Biden dropped out of the race in July and endorsed Harris.
In addition to donating money, Hoffman is hosting a new Business Leaders for Harris podcast. The first episode features Hoffman speaking with Cuban and later with Hastings.
At one point, Hoffman describes hearing from “a whole bunch of CEOs, who actually feel very strongly that Harris is better for business, but who don’t feel like they can speak up as much because they’re currently in ‘the seat,'” he says.
“They’re kind of like, ‘Hey, I got a bunch of employees. I got shareholders. I got customers.”
Future podcast episodes will feature additional participants in the campaign.
