Social media site X on Tuesday reinstated “White Dudes for Harris,” an account driving support for Vice President Kamala Harris, after temporarily locking it.
The group describes itself as “white men from all across the country” who are opposed to allowing “the MAGA crowd bully other white guys into voting for a hateful and divisive ideology.” The movement is asking for donations to the Harris campaign and currently offers a hat with the group’s logo for $35.
White Dudes for Harris on Monday held a livestream featuring actors Jeff Bridges and Mark Hamill, along with a slew of Democratic politicians. The event earned over 300,000 views and over $4 million in donations. Following the livestream, the group posted via X it received notice its account had been locked.
“Uh oh… we pissed off @elonmusk,” the account jeered. “(don’t worry… can’t keep a good dude offline for long).”
The X Help Center describes locking an account as a safety feature to mitigate fraudulent profiles. To unlock an account, users must pass a verification test to prove their identity as account owner.
“If you see a message that says your account has been locked for security purposes, this means that we have detected suspicious behavior, and it appears as though your account may have been compromised,” an X Help Center entry on locked accounts reads.
White Dudes for Harris followed-up less than two hours later, writing its account had been reinstated following complaints from followers.
“WE ARE SO BACK!” it wrote. “After a groundswell of grassroots complaints to @ElonMusk from the #WhiteDudesforHarris community, our account was reinstated & we’re allowed to post again. Thank you for coming to our aid & carrying on this conversation in our absence. More to come!”
X sent an automatic reply reading “Busy now, please check back later,” when reached for comment by The National Desk (TND) Wednesday. An organizer with White Dudes for Harris told TND while the group’s account is back up, it still does not have full access.
“While we are able to tweet from the account, we are not able to see our own analytics or other tweets,” the organizer said.
The organizer said the White Dudes for Harris account was also suspended prior to its Monday livestream.
The initiative in support of the Harris campaign is one of several aimed at specific voter demographics. TikTok personality Arielle Fodor last week urged White women to never interrupt or correct Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals during a similar virtual Zoom call aimed at Harris-backing White women.
X owner Elon Musk has long touted the site as a free speech platform. Musk in March vowed not to donate funds to either candidate for president, but threw his support behind former President Donald Trump this month following the assassination attempt against him at a rally in Butler, Pa.
Musk recently denied reports he would donate money to Trump through a political action committee despite publicly flirting with such a move.