Politico's California bureau chief Christopher Cadelago took to X (formerly Twitter) on November 7, 2024, to claim that Kamala Harris' campaign ended up in a debt of at least $20 million. In his tweet, Cadelgo alleged:
"Kamala Harris's campaign ended with at least $20 million in debt, per two sources familiar. Harris raised over $1 billion and had $118 million in the bank as of Oct. 16."
Publications like Times Now and Newsweek who have reported Cadelago's claim regarding Harris' campaign and its alleged debt have not verified the claim independently. Moreover, as per Times of India dated November 8, 2024, claims of Harris' campaign being in debt surfaced during the last week of her presidential campaign as reported by Breitbart News.
As per a campaign staffer's report to Breitbart News, the campaign's spending shot up after Jen O'Malley Dillon, Harris' campaign manager, spent a billion dollars in a few months. Additionally, the staffer reported that Kamala Harris' rallies featuring concerts by Eminem, Katy Perry, Lizzo, and Bruce Springsteen aimed to attract young voters but proved to be a costly affair for the campaign.
"The $20 million debt thing is real"- Washington Bureau Chief for Breitbart News reinforces claim on Kamala Harris campaign
Christopher Cadelago's claim about Kamala Harris' campaign being in a debt of $20 million despite raising more than $1 billion was repeated by Washington bureau chief for Breitbart News Network, Matthew Boyle via X on November 7, 2024. Calling the claims "explosive", Matthew Boyle cited Harris' campaign staffer who told him "there is a massive scandal here worthy of an audit".
Commenting on the same, Boyle mentioned in his tweet:
"The $20 million debt thing is real. Rob Flaherty, this staffer said, is currently shopping around the Kamala fundraising email list to anyone who wants it to try to raise the money back. This includes other campaigns and outside groups."
Boyle's tweet also stated that the unnamed Kamala Harris campaign staffer reported that several people who were working on the former vice president's campaign are still waiting for the overdue payments they were promised in exchange for their work.
Kamala Harris' campaign spent $1.1 billion on aired advertising: AdImpact reports
As per Newsweek's report of Harris' alleged campaign debt, AdImpact, a website monitoring the cost and content of ads reported that Democrats including Harris' official campaign spent $1.1 billion solely on aired advertising and associated reservations. AdImpact also reported that Harris' spending on aired ads was $400 million more than Republicans.
Moreover, the New York Times reported on October 13, 2024, that the Harris campaign was spending six figures to fly their banner over four NFL games in order to reach male voters in swing states. Additionally, on November 1, 2024, The Guardian stated that the Harris campaign reportedly spent $450,000 a day to have advertisements displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere in Nevada.
According to a Fox News report quoted by Mint on November 7, 2024, Kamala Harris' campaign's focus on swing states comprised an overall $2.29 billion in ad spending from July 22, 2024, to the day of the election on November 5, 2024.
The report mentioned that Wisconsin, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Michigan, received $1.8 billion of these ad dollars wherein Democrats outspent the Republicans by $261.9 million in Pennsylvania on the total ad buys.