The knives are out for Kamala Harris, as donors and campaign aides wonder how she can raise $1 billion, bungle the election and pay off millions of dollars in debt in the aftermath.
The vice president remains hidden behind closed doors for the second day in a row with no public events on her schedule.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is dealing with the fallout from its campaign debt, which reportedly amounts to $20 million, and fears it will cost them money in two years as it begs donors for money for the midterm elections.
Donors are furious and demanding answers about where their money went. They also question why the campaign hosted seven-figure celebrity events during the closing days and complain about the lack of transparency around spending decisions.
The fundraising will continue long after voters have had their say and elected Donald Trump, and there is no plan to end emails and text messages anytime soon.
Even Harris’ campaign staff is furious about the situation.
A senior campaign official said NBC News that the fact that supporters are still being asked for money – even after Harris lost – is “appalling.” Another called it ‘disgusting’.
Kamala Harris’ campaign is in millions of debts and the full picture has yet to emerge
Harris raised a historic amount of money in her short presidential campaign: $1.4 billion.
Its largest expense was advertising, about $654 billion, according to AdImpact, an advertising intelligence and data solutions company.
But filings with the Federal Election Commission show that her team also spent $20 million on concerts and celebrity appearances in the final days before the election.
These events include Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B.
Twelve million dollars were also spent on digital media consultants – to connect the campaign with social media influencers – and six sums were spent building a set for Harris’ appearance on the hit Call Her Daddy podcast by Alex Cooper.’
Then there was the $1 million given to Harpo Studios for production costs related to an Oprah Winfrey interview with Harris in October.
None of the celebrities were paid directly for their time, but production costs and travel expenses surrounding their performances quickly added up.
Meanwhile, the texts and emails asking for money continue to go out.
Campaigns often end in debt. That is not unusual. If Harris had finished with money in the bank, donors would have wondered why every penny wasn’t spent on beating Trump.
Even Barack Obama’s last presidential campaign ended with nearly $6 million in debt. But Obama won. And he hadn’t raised a billion dollars.
“How do you raise a historic amount of money and not win a single swing state?” an aide to Harris told Axios. “The honest answer is: I don’t know.”
And the debt may be greater than known. Harris’ finances remain shrouded in mystery. No one can say who was in charge, where all the money went or how many bills remain to be paid.
It’s part of the staff battle that has plagued her campaign. Harris became the de facto nominee in July after Joe Biden dropped out and endorsed her. She got his campaign staff, brought in some Obama people and tried to throw her own people into the mix as well.
These multiple stakeholders fought, made different decisions, and then blamed everyone else when Harris lost.
Meanwhile, the invoices and bills from the campaign trail are still pouring in. The full financial picture of Harris’ costs and debts may not be known until early next year.
“I feel misled,” a Democrat who regularly talks to donors told NBC.
The Harris campaign has spent millions putting on celebrity events like the one above with Beyonce
Bruce Springsteen was a frequent presence on Harris’ campaign trail
Harris had fundraising emails ready for after the election — in case of a recount or legal challenges. But not to pay off millions in debt.
Campaign staff remain shell-shocked over the loss and still processing what exactly went wrong. Because many staffers, donors and party officials are not only left in the dark about the finances, but also feel they have been misled during the campaign’s internal polling.
In the days leading up to the election, Harris’ team argued that they were winning and could potentially take every battleground state.
She lost all seven to Trump and the election wasn’t even close.
“I always knew we could lose,” one senior staffer said NBC News. “I was never prepared for us to lose the night of the election.”
In addition, many staffers learned of the campaign’s debts when it became known that third parties were interested in purchasing the campaign’s email list, which meant that millions of people’s data could end up in the hands of telemarketers.
Selling lists is a way to raise money quickly.
Two Harris campaign officials told NBC News that the email list is not for sale.
But the even bigger concern is how this could affect fundraising for the 2026 midterm elections, when Democrats will try to regain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
DNC Finance Committee member Lindy Li has strongly criticized Harris’ spending.
She told NewsNation that the campaign told her this was an “eminently winnable race.”
“We lost all the swing states. We lost in every county in America,” Li said. ‘This is just astonishing. This is not like a blip. This is an avalanche.”
The party leadership in the Democratic National Committee is “absolutely in turmoil,” Li said.
“People are resigning,” Li said. “And there will be elections.”
Even Donald Trump has expressed his condolences about the situation.
“I am very surprised that the Democrats, who fought hard and bravely in the 2020 presidential election and raised a record amount of money, did not have many %text#8217;s left. Now they are being pressured by salespeople and others. Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would highly recommend it as a Party, for the sake of much needed UNITY. We have a lot of money left,” he wrote on social media.