Kamala Harris' run for the presidency concluded with lavish campaign spending and no electoral victory.
According to Mail Online, Kamala Harris' $1.5 billion presidential campaign included a staggering $12 million expenditure on private jet travel.
In the hectic final stretch of her campaign, former Vice President Kamala Harris saw her team spend significantly to maintain momentum.
Records from the Federal Election Commission revealed a total spend of $2.6 million on private jets in just October, escalating the campaign’s reliance on swift, but costly, transport options to reach multiple destinations quickly.
Private jet companies such as Advanced Aviation Team and Private Jet Services Group received substantial amounts from Harris' campaign, with payments totaling $430,000 and nearly $2.2 million, respectively. These expenses illustrate the campaign’s priority on mobility despite the potential for public criticism regarding such spending during economic uncertainty.
Overall, Harris' campaign expenditures painted the picture of an operation with no holds barred on spending to secure visibility and influence. An eye-popping $281 million was funneled to Media Buying & Analytics LLC for advertising, while $5.6 million was distributed across 24 liberal groups aimed at boosting support within black and Latino communities in critical swing states.
High expenses were not limited to large-scale operational costs but also appeared in more granular aspects of the campaign. Lavish amounts were noted for set designs, including six-figure spending on a podcast appearance, $1 million directed towards Oprah’s production company, and over $12,000 spent on food delivery services like DoorDash and UberEats, articulating a campaign atmosphere of high expenditure.
The taste for luxury extended further to accommodations, where the campaign spent $62,722 at the prestigious Hotel Du Pont. Social gatherings too mirrored this trend, with $10,000 reported on a single event at New York City's Pebble Bar.
However, despite the massive outflow, the campaign remarkably closed with a balance of $0 in debt—a testament to its fundraising prowess.
Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation Coalition, criticized the apparent disparity between Harris' campaign practices and her environmental stances. Before launching into his remark, he noted the contradictions in the elaborate use of private jets and the urgent climate messages propagated during the campaign.
Kamala Harris and a lot of pro-climate leaders have a lot of hypocrisy with the words that they state and the realities they must think are real. We need sensible solutions on environment and climate issues, but we’re not going to get them when there’s so much hypocrisy coming from the elitists that everyone else needs to change their lives except for them.
GOP consultant Erin Perrine offered a blunt critique of the campaign's outcome, reflecting on its strategy. According to Perrine, the campaign's focus seemed more directed at celebrating rather than connecting effectively with a broader electorate.
Nobody should be shocked Kamala Harris is not being sworn in on January 20. That's not how it works.
The significant financial outlay extended across Harris' campaign demonstrates a complex weave of strategic choices aimed at capturing the presidency. With $12 million spent on jet travel alone and a total campaign cost soaring to $1.5 billion, the financial choices made have sparked debate about priorities and effectiveness amidst unsuccessful electoral results.
