In the earlier stages of her political career, Kamala Harris, who is now the Vice President of the United States, had quite an atypical donor – Donald J. Trump, the former president.
The back story reveals itself when one sifts through the annals of American political donations. In 2011 and 2013, according to California’s campaign finance records, Harris received donations aggregating to $6,000 from Trump, who made these donations before his political ambitions were widely known.
This might seem unbelievable given their apparent differences in political stance and the oft-quoted Wall Street Journal report which highlighted that Trump was supporting Harris during the early part of her career when she served as the attorney general of California. But, according to the filings with the California Secretary of state’s office, Donald J. Trump donated $5,000 to Harris on September 26, 2011, followed by another donation of $1,000 made on February 20, 2013.
As the political winds shifted and her career trajectory took an upturn, Harris, currently serving as the United States Vice President, did not retain Trump’s campaign funds. Instead, in 2015, she donated the $6,000 to a non-profit organization that works on securing the civil rights of Central Americans in the United States, reflecting Harris’ commitment to immigrant rights.
It’s interesting to note that Harris wasn’t the lone Democrat whom Trump had donated to in the preceding years. Several other politicians, including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had also reportedly received donations from Trump before his presidential campaign.
These donations exemplify that political affiliations can considerably change over time. As Donald Trump morphed from a real estate mogul and television personality into a presidential candidate, his political donation strategy also inevitably transformed. This, ultimately, led to a significant shift in his donation habits, wherein until 2015 he was also financing campaigns of politicians with notable positions in the Democratic party.
One can’t help but perceive the fascinating juxtaposition that this presents. The future Vice President was receiving donations, albeit before 2014, from the man who would become the 45th President of the United States and one day, she would compete against him on a ticket to the White House.
However, as campaign contributions are typically strategic moves, these donations primarily represent the fluid nature of politics and the strategic donor practices employed to win favors or support.
It is also noteworthy that, upon her decision to run for the U.S. Senate in 2015, Harris returned the donations she had received from Trump. This move mirrored her growing prominence as a powerful voice in the Democratic party, distinctly different from the conservative policies upheld by Trump.
Simply put, those early donations by Trump to the Kamala Harris campaign were not a sign of amity between the two but more of political strategy that is often at play behind the scenes in the world of politics. The repudiation of these donations by Harris in 2015 further mirrors the shifting contours of the American political landscape.
