Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign spent $2.6 million on private jet travel in the final weeks of her presidential bid, bringing the total to $12 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Between October 1 and October 17, her campaign paid nearly $2.2 million to South Florida’s Private Jet Services Group and $430,000 to Arlington-based Advanced Aviation Team for chartered flights.
The extensive use of private jets, which are up to 14 times more polluting than commercial flights, contradicts Harris’ earlier statements about global warming being an "existential threat" and her calls for Americans to reduce carbon emissions.
"Kamala Harris and many pro-climate leaders show a lot of hypocrisy between their rhetoric and the realities they seem to believe in," Benji Backer, founder and executive chairman of the American Conservation Coalition, told The Post.
“We need sensible solutions to climate issues, but we won’t get them when elitists preach change for everyone else while avoiding it themselves,” said Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation Coalition.
Private Jet Services Group claims its flights are carbon-neutral through a "reforestation program" that offsets emissions, but it’s unclear if Advanced Aviation offers a similar program or if the Harris campaign purchased carbon offsets for its flights.
Harris’ private jet expenses could rise further, as final campaign spending reports for the last weeks of the race are yet to be released.
The campaign has faced ridicule for its lavish spending, including multimillion-dollar celebrity events and a six-figure set design for her "Call Her Daddy" podcast appearance, despite a $1 billion war chest.
The Post reviewed the campaign's Federal Election Commission filings and uncovered additional lavish spending, including:
- $12,097 on food delivery from Uber Eats and DoorDash since July
- $12,081 on ice cream, including purchases from Sweet Lucy’s and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams after President Biden was removed from the top of the ticket
- $6,000 on a “site fee” at Snakes and Lattes, a board game café in Tempe, Arizona, where Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied college students
- $62,772 on room and catering at the luxury Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington, DE, while Biden was still in the race, including a $500-a-night king-bed room with a soaking tub
- $9,600 on food and drinks at Pebble Bar near Rockefeller Center, a hotspot for celebrities like Pete Davidson, also while Biden was still the Democratic nominee.
“Nobody should be shocked that Kamala Harris is not being sworn in on Jan. 20,” said GOP consultant Erin Perrine. “Instead of getting the message out, they wanted to have a party. That’s not how it works.”
The Harris campaign also directed $5.6 million to 24 progressive groups, including several Latino and Black advocacy organizations, as well as groups in swing states she ultimately lost.
Among those receiving funds were four organizations — Voto Latino and Power Rising Action Fund in Washington, D.C., Make the Road Action Fund in Brooklyn, and CASA in Action in Hyattsville, MD — all of which have collectively received $8.4 million from George Soros' Open Society Foundations since 2017.
Additionally, Al Sharpton’s National Action Network received $500,000 from the campaign in two payments just weeks before Harris appeared on Sharpton's MSNBC show for a friendly interview.
The Harris campaign’s largest expenditure in the 2024 election cycle was a staggering $281 million spent on ad buys and production through ‘Media Buying & Analytics LLC’, a firm linked to ‘Canal Media Partners’. The firm, run by former Georgia Democratic Party chair Bobby Khan, has previously worked with companies like Uber and gun reform group ‘Everytown for Gun Safety’, according to reports from the newsletter ‘Sludge’.
Despite the Harris campaign’s hefty spending — which, combined with aligned interest groups, totaled $1.6 billion — Donald Trump made significant gains across the country, winning in every state except Washington as he secured another election victory.
(Source: NYPOST)
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