Joy-Ann Reid Questions 'Business as Usual' as Kamala Harris Calls Donors

Joy-Ann Reid on Monday asked whether Democratic donors understand the political moment they are in. She put the question as reporting circulated that former Vice President Kamala Harris has at least 11 paid staffers and has been calling donors ahead of a possible 2028 run.

"Do these donors expect a normal free and fair election in 2028? It seems to me there's a lot of business as usual going on in Democratic politics, that they don't seem to see that we're in fascism," Reid said on The Joy Reid Show. "That seems weird to me."

Reid, a former MSNBC host, put pointed questions to her own side without condemning anyone by name. Her guest was Zohreen Shah, a journalist who covered Harris's 2019 and 2024 campaigns for ABC News and recently launched a Substack called The Donor Class.

What the Reporting Says About Harris's Team

The staffing and donor reporting is Shah's, and her donor sources are anonymous. "I can't say yes or no, but it really looks like she's laying the groundwork, Joy," Shah said. She said she found "there were actually 11 paid staffers that she has right now" and that "I can think of at least seven donors from her national finance committee in 2019 who said they got those calls." She would not name them because they did not want to be named.

Harris has said publicly that she is considering a run. Reid played a clip from April's National Action Network conference, where Harris told Rev. Al Sharpton: "Listen, I might. I might. I'm thinking about it."

Her midterm travel points the same way. Harris will headline a Fulton County Democrats dinner on Oct. 30 and campaign with Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Ossoff is in a race against Republican Representative Mike Collins. Earlier this year she held a fundraiser in Las Vegas with Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running for governor. Later that day, at a Nevada State Democratic Party event Ford did not attend, she said "Aaron Ford winning for governor is going to be so important," 8NewsNow reported.

Shah also said possible rivals are courting the same money. She said Maryland Governor Wes Moore was in Los Angeles recently and that Ossoff is due back there within days to raise money again, each campaigning with a studio head, "one with Miramax, one with Lionsgate". She said both executives served on Harris's 2019 national finance committee.

Reid Presses Donors on Consultants

Reid then turned to where Democratic money goes. "Do any of these donors feel that or realize that they threw a lot of money away in the past, not on Kamala Harris so much, but on the same set of consultants in Washington who lose election after election after election and keep getting hired?" she asked. "I've never understood why maybe these people just have money to burn."

Shah did not fully agree. "Yeah, I haven't heard anything about that. Look, I know the donors are frustrated by it," she said, adding that some candidates are hiring newer consultants. On election security, she said donors are worried, but that "the cocktail chatter, I am told, is about the midterms."

Reid also said she wished donors would "spend some of it on some of these Southern Democratic races for a lot of these black candidates that are underfunded." She has made a similar complaint about the party before.

Who Is Funding the Midterms

Shah said that "the 14 out of, I think 20 of the top donors for this midterm cycle were all Republicans with Elon Musk just swamping, swamping these races." The published figures back up a strong Republican tilt at the top, but they also show a Democratic family among the biggest givers.

American billionaires have poured more than $433 million into the midterms, and nearly 80 cents of every dollar is backing Republicans, Fortune reported. Musk had given at least $90 million by the end of June. George Soros and his son Alex Soros had given $102.8 million.

Where Harris Stands in 2028 Polling

Donors may be ready to move on, but primary voters have not yet done so. Harris leads the potential Democratic field with 27.9 percent in PolitiKool's polling average, ahead of California Governor Gavin Newsom at 16.3 percent and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 10.8 percent.

Shah described a different mood among the people who fund campaigns. "They are ready to move on," she said, but added that donors "swing pretty hard."

Reid closed the segment with an informal poll of her chat. Viewers split 48 percent in favor of another Harris run and 52 percent against, a self-selected sample that measures her audience and not the electorate.

Earlier in the show, Reid said the election 22 days away matters more than 2028: "until we get through this election, it doesn't matter who's running in 2028."