Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, September 29, 2024.
Carlos Barea | Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris’ top allies in the private sector have launched a new campaign seeking to portray the Democratic nominee as a better candidate for business, drawing comparisons between her and former Republican President Donald Trump.
Harris Entrepreneurs launched a website early Friday featuring online testimonials, both from small business owners and hugely successful entrepreneurs.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, LinkedIn co-founder Reed Hoffman, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, and Box CEO Aaron Levin recorded short videos of Harris. Former American Express CEO Ken Chennault and former Merck CEO Ken Frazier also contributed clips.
“Kamala Harris brings order and innovation. Donald Trump brings chaos and fear and despair. We need someone to bring us hope in a very tangible way, and that’s Kamala Harris,” Chennault testified.
Hastings says he thinks Harris will be better at business than her boss, President Joe Biden. “In many ways, I think this will be an improvement over the current administration. One of their differences is the level of interest they have.”
Reed Hastings, co-CEO of Netflix speaks at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, US on October 18, 2021.
David Swanson | Reuters
Hastings was one of a small group of Democratic donors this summer who called on Biden to withdraw from the race after his disastrous June 27 debate against Trump.
All executives involved in the project signed an open letter in September endorsing Harris. But some of them backed up this support with millions of dollars in donations to the new initiative.
Business Leaders for Harris is a project of the Republican Accountability Political Action Committee, a progressive political action committee.
The super PAC has already received $6 million this election cycle from Huffman, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Hastings reportedly donated $7 million to the political action committee 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 podcast for Harris. The first episode shows Hoffman speaking with Cuban and then with Hastings.
At one point, Hoffman describes hearing from “a whole group of CEOs, who feel strongly that Harris is better for business, but don’t feel like they can speak up as much because they’re currently in the ‘seat.’” he says.
“They kind of say: Hey, I’ve got a bunch of employees. I’ve got shareholders. I’ve got customers.”
Future podcast episodes will feature additional campaign participants.
