Harris vows to grow AI, crypto industries in pitch to NYC donors
US VICE-PRESIDENT Kamala Harris vowed to help grow investment in artificial intelligence and crypto if elected, pitching her economic agenda to donors in New York City on Sunday as one that would bolster innovation and focus regulations on protecting consumers and investors.
“I will bring together labour, small business founders and innovators and major companies,” Harris said at a fundraiser at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan. “We will partner together to invest in America’s competitiveness, to invest in America’s future. We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets, while protecting our consumers and investors.”
Harris’ comments mark the first time she has commented on cryptocurrencies as the Democratic presidential nominee as investors and enthusiasts waited to see if her approach would differ from President Joe Biden’s.
The crypto industry has emerged as a significant player in the 2024 presidential election, as industry executives and investors, who have bristled at what they see as a burdensome regulatory under Biden, look to flex their clout in part through sizable political donations.
During a Bloomberg News roundtable on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in August, one of her campaign policy advisers said Harris wants to help grow digital assets, but signaled she is interested in safeguards for an industry that has seen the collapse of numerous high-profile companies.
Former President Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican opponent, has openly courted the industry, pledging to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, whose term is not up until 2026, pick regulators friendly to the industry and create a stablecoin framework.
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Trump made an overture to the digital-asset community last week, paying for burgers with Bitcoin at a crypto-themed bar in New York City.
Harris’ economic proposals have been heavily targeted toward voters worried about high prices that have been a persistent political liability for the Biden administration, with promises to push a slew of tax benefits and cuts and programmes to ease the burdens on low- and middle-class American households.
But on Sunday, Harris also sought to assuage concerns about her approach to business, providing more insight into how she will handle regulations — as part of what she has billed as an agenda for an “opportunity economy.”
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“We will create a safe business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road. We will invest in semiconductors, clean energy and other industries of the future, and we will cut needless bureaucracy,” she said.
In-person fundraiser
Sunday’s fundraiser offered a rare detour from the campaign trail for the Democratic presidential nominee as she looks to fortify her cash advantage over Trump.
Tickets ranged in price from US$500 to nearly US$1 million, which gave supporters at the highest donation tier a spot in the photo line with Harris and access to two additional events, a “Liberty luncheon” and a reception for top contributors.
The event brought out many of the state’s most prominent Democratic officials including Governor Kathy Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, as well as celebrities including Padma Lakshmi, singer Audra McDonald, and actors Anne Hathaway, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Porter.
Organisers billed it as a final chance to meet the vice-president in New York before November’s election. Her campaign said on Saturday Harris will not attend next month’s Al Smith charity dinner in the city benefiting Catholic charities to spend time campaigning in key states instead. The dinner is a traditional stop for major party presidential candidates.
In visiting New York – a city teeming with deep-pocketed Democratic donors – Harris is looking to add to the party’s already sizable financial advantage over Trump.
The vice-president, the Democratic National Committee and state parties raised US$361 million in August, leaving her with US$404 million in the bank at the start of September. Those tallies surpassed the US$130 million that former President Trump and the Republican National Committee raised in August. Harris and Democrats hold a US$109 million cash advantage over Trump and Republicans, who started September with a US$295 million war chest.
The Democratic nominee’s fundraising boom has been powered by donors from Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood.
Her success at also raising money online since entering the race in July has allowed her to keep a light fundraising schedule, with Harris attending just a few high-dollar events, including one last weekend in Washington. She’s scheduled to make stops next weekend in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where she built a network of donors during her years as a local and state elected official in California.
Harris has deployed a deep bench of surrogates instead, including running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, to headline fundraisers.
At a Friday gathering in Los Angeles, former President Barack Obama brought in US$4 million. The grassroots fundraising messages he’s signed and the events he’s participated in — including one at New York’s Radio City Music Hall with Biden and former President Bill Clinton — have raised at least US$76 million, his office said on Saturday. BLOOMBERG
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