Vice President Kamala Harris Raises $12 Million From a San Francisco Event On Sunday Despite Massive Protests

Sunday, Vice President and Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris raised $12 million from a single San Francisco event while protesters raged outside.

For just under a week, Harris and newly minted running mate Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) scrambled across the country and visited the largest swing states in play, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada. However, following a Las Vegas rally on Saturday, the two split apart, with Walz going back to Minnesota and Harris travelling on to San Francisco. Her goal was to begin fundraising in person again and bringing back multiple donors and supporters who had left earlier in the summer with President Joe Biden still on the ticket, starting off nearby her hometown at an event at the Fairmont Hotel.

Harris’ first major event in the area as the Presidential nominee drew in virtually every top Democrat in the state, including Governor Gavin Newsom, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, numerous Congressional members including Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Ro Khanna (D-CA), and numerous other state and local lawmakers and officials. Cameras were also not allowed at the event, making it somewhat closed off. Harris, the former DA of San Francisco, California attorney General, and Senator, did not remark on the fewer press members than usual inside the event.

Welcome back to SF Madam @VP !

So proud to have the Future President of the United States back in San Francisco where it all started. pic.twitter.com/sr2l940a2U

— London Breed (@LondonBreed) August 11, 2024

“It’s good to be home,” said Harris at the Fairmont ballroom. “This is a room full of dear, dear friends and longstanding supporters. Folks I have known for my entire career. We’ve been through a lot together. I want to thank everyone in here for your love and longstanding support and friendship and for your dedication to this country.

“Let’s not take anything for granted. I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm out there. I’ve never been one to believe in the polls whether they’re up or they’re down.”

Tickets to the Harris Victory Fund event and the Fairmont ranged from $3,300 to $50,000, which in addition to regular donation, raised $12 million for Harris in a single night. However, while Harris raised a lot, a lot of focus was also outside the event, where a large Pro-Palestinian protest shut down the streets outside. As protestors chanted, they made it clear that they saw a vote for Kamala Harris as a vote of continued support of Israel, as well as a continuation of the war in Gaza.

“We are here to denounce the hypocrisy of our elected officials, Killer Kamala and Genocide Joe,” yelled protestors outside the Fairmont on Sunday. They then called for Harris to initiate a cease-fire and stop selling weapons to Israel.

Protest organizer Luna Osleger-Montanez said, “I think it’s a grave mistake of the Democrats to completely ignore the very consistent and clear calls of young people and people of conscience around this country calling for justice in Palestine.”

Protests

Another protestor, Omar, told the Globe on Monday that “Harris is both the best and worst option. She wants a cease-fire deal, she wants to free the hostages, but she also wants to play ball with Israel and not recognize Palestine. The hypocrisy and double-dealing of her breaks your mind. I’ll give Trump this. At least we know where he stands. With Harris, she just doesn’t seem to care about any side. And no one is calling her out on this.”

While Harris has made some vague promises to get a cease-fire deal and hostage deal done in the past several days, she has not committed to any plan or timeline. This led to a larger than expected protest outside the hotel on Sunday, somewhat dampening the mood for Harris and supporters who had expected nothing but supporters outside.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump also continued his swing of Western states over the weekend, going to states such as Montana and Colorado. He also had a similar multi-million dollar campaign fundraiser in Aspen, where protestors were far fewer than Harris. His swing, although more muted compared to Harris’, showed he was also in full campaign mode on Western states as well.

“Trump got in hot water last week over claims of crowd sizes in Harris’ campaign,” said protest researcher Gail Roberts to the Globe on Monday. “But he is strangely not pointing out just how many protesters have been chanting outside her events. They are trying to stop their momentum right now, but it will be hard as there is the running mate surge happening right now, and then the DNC next week. But the focus needs to be on the protesters there too. The Harris campaign really didn’t like how much media attention was on the protests on Sunday, showing them to be sensitive about this. They had been getting nothing but supportive crowds until Sunday. Sunday showed a potential weakness for Harris-Walz. Protesters.”

Candidates from both sides are in no means done with California as a campaign or fundraising stop, with multiple more events planned in August alone. The first is set to be Governor Walz visiting fundraising events in Los Angeles and Orange County beginning on Tuesday.