Vice President Kamala Harris has received a flood of campaign contributions since President Joe Biden announced on July 21 that he would not run for a second term and endorsed Harris for the Democratic nomination. According to a campaign spokesperson, Harris received more than $81 million in donations in the 24 hours following the announcement, a figure that rose to $200 million in her first week.
Several viral posts online have since identified the streaming company Netflix as one of Harris’ big-ticket donors.
The posts are mostly false. Reed Hastings, the billionaire executive chairman of Netflix’s board, did personally donate to a PAC linked to Harris’ campaign, but Netflix itself did not make a donation. There is also no evidence that the company has lost 6 million subscribers since the donation was made, and its stock has not fallen by 40 percent.
Hastings’ donation.
Hastings co-founded Netflix alongside Marc Randolph in 1997 and served as its CEO until 2023, when he became executive chairman of the company’s board. A longtime supporter of Democratic candidates, Hastings was one of the most prominent donors to call on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. “Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings told the New York Times in early July.
Two days after Biden withdrew, Hastings congratulated Harris on becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Hastings’ vocal support...
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