Vice President Kamala Harris spent a whopping $1.5 billion during her 15-week campaign that ended in defeat to President-elect Donald Trump, including burning through millions of dollars on star-studded events on the eve of the election, according to a report.
According to The New York Times, Harris’ swing state rallies on the night before Election Day exceeded the campaign’s planned budget, ballooning to over $10 million.
These pricey celebrity events featured Lady Gaga in Philadelphia, Jon Bon Jovi in Detroit, Christina Aguilera in Nevada, James Taylor in North Carolina and Katy Perry in Pittsburgh. While the singers did not receive compensation, the newspaper said officials confirmed that the support staff was compensated.
Part of the higher-than-expected costs came from having to rebuild an entire rally venue in Pittsburgh after the Secret Service said the initial location could not be properly secured, The Times reported.
How Harris spent such an exorbitant amount of money during her compressed campaign has left questions as to where all that cash went.
One payment being scrutinized in recent days has been the reported $1 million payment to Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions.
An initial report by the Washington Examiner showed the Harris campaign made two $500,000 payments to Winfrey’s Harpo Productions on Oct. 15, a month after Winfrey’s town hall with Harris and weeks before the pair appeared at a Harris Philadelphia rally. Now, two sources have told The Times that the full price of the event with Winfrey was closer to $2.5 million.
A Harpo Productions spokesperson acknowledged to Variety that the company took money from the campaign but claimed it was for ‘production costs.’
‘Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo,’ the spokesperson said.
Other major costs for Harris’ failed campaign included $111 million in online ads seeking donations, about $50 million for door-to-door canvassers and $2.5 million paid to three digital agencies who work with online influencers, The Times reported.
