Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign paid almost $2.5 million to Oprah Winfrey’s production company for a high-profile town hall event, which was more than double the originally expected cost.

At first, reports suggested that Harpo Productions, Winfrey’s company, received roughly $1 million for the event with Harris in September. However, fresh findings indicate that this initial estimate was significantly low.

According to two individuals familiar with the deal, as revealed by the New York Times, Harpo Productions was actually paid around $2.5 million. This amount, while substantial, still represents a small fraction of the Harris campaign’s total expenditure, which was estimated to be around $1.5 billion.

Winfrey has made it clear that she did not personally receive any payments from the Harris campaign, with a former advisor to the campaign also confirming that no individual was paid for their participation or support.

Winfrey stated that none of the funds were pocketed by her personally, emphasizing that the payment went toward covering the costs of her production team. She added that the Harris campaign was billed for the specific services it needed to host the town hall.

“I was not paid a dime. For the live-streaming event in September, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, crew, producers and every other item necessary (including the benches and the chairs we sat on) to put on a live production. I did not take any personal fee,” Winfrey shared on Instagram.

“However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.”

The Harris campaign set a new record for raising the most money in the shortest period. With her campaign spending an astounding $1.5 billion in just 15 weeks, it has become one of the most expensive in history.

This massive budget also contributed to a $20 million debt for the Democratic Party.

A significant portion of the funds was allocated to the campaign’s intense advertising push, which had to condense a year’s worth of campaigning into just three months after Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic candidate. The campaign also focused on grassroots efforts, pervasive social media ads, and attracting high-profile figures like Winfrey to support the cause.

Other notable expenses included nearly $9,000 spent on ice cream from premium vendors, $15,000 on food delivery services, and an eye-watering $2.6 million on private jet travel during Harris’ two-week campaign blitz in battleground states in October.

Despite these expenditures, Harris was ultimately defeated by President-elect Donald Trump, who secured 312 electoral votes. The election also resulted in a Republican majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Trump’s campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal, had a budget of about $720 million.

Trump’s campaign strategy focused on a series of appearances on popular online platforms, including “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which remains one of the top podcasts globally.

{Matzav.com}