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The Business Leaders for Harris campaign pits Trump against the vice president

The Business Leaders for Harris campaign pits Trump against the vice president

Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, September 29, 2024.

Carlos Barria | Reuters

Vice President Kamala Harris’ key allies in the private sector have launched a new campaign aimed at portraying the Democratic nominee as the best candidate for business and drawing contrasts between her and Republican former President Donald Trump.

Business Leaders for Harris went live early Friday with a website that features online testimonials from both small business owners and highly successful entrepreneurs.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Netflix Co-founder Reed Hastings and Crate CEO Aaron Levine recorded all short videos for Harris. Former American Express CEO Ken Chenault and former Merck CEO Ken Frazier also contributed clips.

“Kamala Harris brings order and innovation. Donald Trump brings chaos, fear and hopelessness. We need someone to bring us hope in a very tangible way, and that is Kamala Harris,” Chenault said in his testimony.

Hastings says he believes Harris would be even better for business than her boss, President Joe Biden. “In many ways I think it will be an improvement over the current administration. And one of her differences is the level of interest she has.”

Netflix Co-CEO Reed Hastings speaks at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, USA on October 18, 2021.

David Swanson | Reuters

Hastings was among a small, vocal group of Democratic donors this summer who called on Biden to drop out of the race after his disastrous debate against Trump on June 27.

All executives involved in the project signed an open letter endorsing Harris in September. However, some of them have backed up this support by donating millions of dollars to the new initiative.

Business Leaders for Harris is a project of the Republican Accountability PAC, a progressive political action committee.

The super PAC has already received $6 million from Hoffman this election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Hastings reportedly donated $7 million to the PAC shortly after Biden dropped out of the race in July and endorsed Harris.

In addition to donating money, Hoffman also hosts a new podcast, “Business Leaders for Harris.” In the first episode, Hoffman talks to Cuban and later to Hastings.

At one point Hoffman describes that he’s heard from “a whole bunch of CEOs who actually feel strongly that Harris is better for business, but who don’t feel like they can have that much say because they currently hold the post. ‘” he says.

“They say something like, ‘Hey, I have a lot of employees. I have shareholders. I have customers.”

Future podcast episodes will feature additional participants in the campaign.

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