The social media account “White Dudes for Harris” was briefly suspended on X, formerly known as Twitter, this week after raising a whopping $4 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
This quickly caused many X users to call out X, as well as X owner Elon Musk. Some even claimed that this was an example of election interference.
White Dudes for Harris Run a Zoom Call
This week, the group White Dudes for Harris organized a virtual call on Zoom where they worked to raise money for Harris’ campaign.
The fundraiser featured many celebrities, such as actors Mark Ruffalo and Jeff Bridges. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also joined the virtual call.
Attracting White Men to the Harris Campaign
This White Dudes for Harris virtual fundraiser was the latest Zoom call that featured a specific identity group. In just the past few weeks, successful virtual calls featured white women, Black women, and Black men.
This latest fundraiser worked to attract working-class white men to the Harris campaign, as Republicans have long relied on this demographic in the past.
Raising $4 Million
By the end of this Zoom call, which featured at least 190,000 people, the group had raised $4 million — all for Harris’ campaign.
Many people took to social media to praise the work of these organizers, as they were working to bring people together within a demographic to help Harris get to the White House.
White Dudes for Harris Suspended From X
However, this elation quickly turned to anger when supporters realized that the White Dudes for Harris X account had been suspended after holding this call.
This occurred on Monday, causing many people to lash out at X — and especially X owner Elon Musk. Musk has already proved he’s not a fan of Harris.
Why Was This Account Suspended?
So far, there has been no information about why the White Dudes for Harris X account was suspended.
The automated message attached to this suspended account simply read, “X suspends accounts which violate the X rules.”
A Temporary Suspension
However, by early Tuesday morning, it appeared the suspension was lifted and the account was fully restored on X.
Mike Nellis, who works with the organization, did state that the X account is live again — but it still is suspended. Thus, it appears the organization isn’t in the all-clear yet.
Being Silenced
Nellis explained that the account is in read-only mode. This means that they cannot interact with other people on X, nor can they post anything.
After explaining this situation, Nellis wrote, “Don’t let them silence us.”
Users Sound Off on Elon Musk
Many social media users on X quickly sounded off on Musk, as they felt that he was personally going out of his way to suspend the group’s account. An organizer for White Dudes for Harris even wrote, “Got @elonmusk scared.”
In recent years, Musk has been openly supportive of conservatives and Republicans, and has moved away from supporting the Democratic Party.
Election Interference?
Meanwhile, one account wrote, “The ‘free speech absolutist’ has now suspended White @dudes4harris. Presumably for raising $4M in a few hours. The fascists are terrified. Good.”
The co-founder of MeidasTouch, Brett Meiselas, insinuated that this suspension had everything to do with election interference, writing, “This is the real election interference.”
Has X Been Glitchy?
This outrage over the sudden — and unexplained — suspension of White Dudes for Harris caused other social media users and Democratic analysts to talk about odd circumstances on X in the past.
For example, many users claimed that X had been quite glitchy during major historical moments, such as when President Joe Biden launched his bid for president in the 2024 race.
An Uncertain Future
Though White Dudes for Harris has been put back on X, questions still remain on whether or not the account can interact with other users and post their own content.
As a result, this situation may continue to anger many users — and they may continue to call out Musk, as they believe he’s interfering with the Harris campaign.
