Tens of thousands of men turned out Monday for a digital “White Dudes for Harris” livestream fundraiser event, which just shy of two hours in at pub time raised over $3.4 million and counting. But a highlight of the event came early on when the ultimate dude of all dudes appeared onscreen to throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential bid: Jeff Bridges.
“I accepted the invitation and I was brought to the party not so much as being white, and I certainly am, but because I’m a dude, you know, I qualify, man. I’m white, I’m a dude, and I’m for Harris,” Bridges told the attendees.
In a social media clip of the speech posted by The Tennessee Holler, the Oscar winner then enthused, “I’m excited, man. I think the fact that Joe has passed the baton so beautifully, I can see her being president. I’m so excited. A woman president, man. How exciting! You know, and her championing of women’s rights — for that, and for her stance on the environment, and taking care of our children, you know, all of her leadership on that is wonderful. And something that I can get behind in support.”
Watch the clip below:
Bridges, of course, iconically played The Dude in the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult classic, “The Big Lebowski.” Now 26 years later, the 74-year-old is perhaps still best known for the stoner caper, with some on social media even riffing on an iconic line from the script, joking that Bridges “really tied the Zoom together.”
The actor wasn’t the only “white dude” celebrity to lend their time and talent to the Monday night fundraiser. Mark Hamill, Josh Groban, Bradley Whitford, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sean Astin, Paul Scheer and many more were also among the speakers — a roster that was peppered with politicians like California Rep. Adam Schiff.
In a clip shared by Art Candee on social media, Hamill encouraged attendees to make sure they’re registering voters and cited a statistic that found “40 million registered Democrats didn’t vote in 2020.” He also implored people to learn more about Project 2025.
“It’s more terrifying than anything that Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King ever wrote,” Hamill said. ‘The idea of firing 50,000 civil servants and putting in loyalists, who, the prerequisite is you have to believe that the 2020 election was stolen — it’s just unthinkable that they’re so forthcoming with what they want to do.”
“Lord of the Rings” and “Strangers Thing” star Astin related the event to a men’s group his childhood neighbor used to attend and his brother’s battle against drug addiction.
“The idea that men can gather to talk about how we feel … interesting, powerful concept,” he said. “To include — we said on our invitation, everyone is welcome. That’s a really interesting phrase, ‘everyone is welcome’ … You might hear it in other places, [and] I’m pretty sure you can feel it’s true here, with this particular party, with this particular candidate.”
The meeting is the fourth such digital fundraiser scheduled for Harris with the intent of raising money and garnering support. Last week, the Black Women for Harris event saw an estimated 90,000 Black women and allies attend and raised more than $1 million. The event was followed by Black Men for Harris, which raised a similar amount. On Friday, White Women for Harris raised over $8 million.
