Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville on Wednesday declared that “the resistance is going to have trouble raising money” as he slammed Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 campaign for its reported spending.
“These fundraisers are burnt. They’re really pissed now,” said Carville on his “Politics War Room” podcast with Al Hunt.
“The damage that the 2024 campaign has done, the damage that this decade has done to the Democratic brand is almost unfathomable, almost unfathomable.”
The Harris campaign spent $1.5 billion during its 15-week run, the New York Times reported last month.
That figure has since alarmed several critics including some who have blasted the campaign for reportedly dropping $900,000 to advertise on the Las Vegas Sphere or for its continued, postelection push for donations.
The campaign was roughly $20 million in debt following its election loss, sources told the Politico and NewsNation, although the campaign denies this.
Carville, a lead strategist for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, used to a scene from the 1967 film “The Graduate” to offer a swift piece of advice to the Democratic National Committee.
“One word, audit,” he said.
He later continued, “I would say, policy number one, is we’re going to audit everything. We’re going to audit the campaign, we’re going to audit Future Forward, we’re going to audit the DNC so people can know.”
He noted that Future Forward, a Democratic super PAC that supported the Harris’ bid, raised over $900 million before predicting that it ended up with $1 billion prior to Election Day.
Democracy In The Balance
“That’s two and a half frickin’ billion dollars. Do you have any idea where this money went? Does anybody have any idea where that money went?” said Carville while looping in his $1 billion figure to the reported $1.5 billion in spending.