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CHICAGO — Vice President Kamala Harris’s allies in the business community are having private conversations with CEOs about why they should support her instead of former President Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said.
At parties and private gatherings During the Democratic National ConventionExecutives close to Harris told CNBC they are delivering a message tailored to key players in finance, technology and law.
These arguments argue that a Harris presidency would be good for business because she wants to create a strong economy that will help the middle class. They also argue that a Harris administration would provide businesses with a degree of policy certainty that a Trump White House would not have, the people said.
Individuals involved in this effort were given anonymity so they could describe private conversations.
At a Tuesday event for tech executives and Democratic lawmakers in New York, the conversation revolved in part around how to woo major tech players to support Harris, including those who align more closely with the Republican Party than with Democrats. Among the guests was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The event was held at the Bunker in Chicago, and was organized by Tech:NYC, a tech industry group that lists Bloomberg, Google, MetaUnion Square Ventures and Yahoo as founding members.
Another topic that has come up repeatedly this week is what positions might need to be filled in a potential Harris administration.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, approached businessman and longtime Harris ally Charles Phillips on Wednesday at the Peninsula Chicago Hotel and told him she thought he deserved a position in Harris’s Treasury Department.
And when that speculation turns to Treasury secretaries in a potential Harris administration, one name being discussed within Harris’ circle at the conference this week is JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A JPMorgan Chase spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the speculation.
Any support from CEOs would provide another boost to Harris’s already massive campaign coffers. Harris’s campaign raised more than $200 million in July and had nearly $220 million on hand as of August, according to new Federal Election Commission records.
Harris fundraiser and former Evercore vice chairman Charles Myers hosted a briefing for about 60 CEOs and CFOs Tuesday at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, according to an attendee.
Harris campaign adviser Gene Sperling and Rebecca Patterson, a former chief investment strategist at investment giant Bridgewater Associates, participated in the panel, according to the person.
“The committee’s message was that Trump’s economic plan of imposing higher tariffs and undermining the independence of the Federal Reserve would seriously reduce” existing trade deals between the United States and its allies, the person explained.
Trump said that if he returned to the White House, he would seek to obtain the minimum. 10% customs duty on goods From all over the world. It is also He said The president “should at least have a say” in setting interest rates, a potential challenge to the Fed's independence.
According to an attendee, Blackstone Vice President Tom Nides led a similar panel discussion, which also included Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
“Harris is more interested in working with business and labor side by side,” Pritzker said in a separate interview with Bloomberg. It happened At the conference. “American companies are curious, open and interested in working with us, and they will seize this opportunity.”
The ongoing lobbying campaign to win corporate support for Harris comes after her campaign released the first parts of Harris' economic policy plan last week.
The plan includes a goal of producing three million new affordable housing units, a federal ban on “price gouging” in the grocery industry, and a $6,000 tax credit for families with newborns.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Harris' plan would: Lift the deficit In a new report, nonprofit budget experts say nonprofits will need to increase their budgets by $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years.
Following the report, Harris proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% to help fund her proposals.
Congressional strategists and Democrats are well aware that in order to implement Harris's economic plan, Democrats must have majority control in both the House and the Senate.
Helping Democrats flip the House was the goal of a fundraiser organized by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday.
Lawmakers there told potential donors that if they hoped to see any of Harris’s plans become a reality, they should help Democrats take back the House, according to a person who attended the meeting.
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