Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) battled it out in a contentious back and forth over the South Bend mayor’s support from wealthy donors during Thursday’s debate, but Warren — a millionaire herself — has received money from at least 30 billionaires over her political career.
Buttigieg and Warren went to war over Buttigieg’s support from billionaires during Thursday’s debate in Los Angeles.
“We made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States; billionaires in wine caves should not pick the president of the United States,” Warren said in a jab toward the South Bend mayor.
Buttigieg pointed out that he was the only one on the stage who is not a millionaire or billionaire. (Warren’s net worth is $12 million, according to Forbes.)
“This is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass,” Buttigieg said.
“If I pledge — if I pledge never to be in the company of a progressive Democratic donor, I couldn’t be up here. Senator, your net worth is 100 times mine,” he continued, pointing out the senatorial campaign funds — marking a time when Warren accepted big donor money — she used to cushion her presidential bid.
“But also, senator, your presidential campaign right now as we speak is funded in part by money you transferred, having raised it at those exact same big-ticket fundraisers you now denounce,” he said. “Did it corrupt you, senator? Of course not.”
Warren did not address his specific critiques but argued that she does not “sell access to my time.”
“I don’t do call time with millionaires and billionaires,” she said:
PBS NewsHour/POLITICOWarren is not immune to criticism when it comes to welcoming support from the wealthy. She has accepted support from at least 30 billionaires over the course of her political career.
As the New York Post reported:
Christopher Sacca, a venture capitalist who appeared on “Shark Tank”, gave $2,800 to Warren in May.
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate also netted two $2,500 contributions from GitHub founder Tom Preston-Werner’s wife, Theresa, in June. That same month Susan Pritzker, wife of Hyatt heir Nicholas Pritzker II, donated $2,500 to Warren.
The donations run from 2011 to 2019 and include contributions to Warren’s presidential and Senate campaigns. Most of the individual billionaires are giving at or near the maximum contribution limit, which currently is $2,800 for the primary and $2,800 for the general election for a total for $5,600.
That coincides with another point Buttigieg made on Thursday. Warren used $10.4 million in leftover funds from her 2018 senatorial bid to cushion her presidential campaign. During that time, “Warren happily attended fundraisers and accepted money from big donors, sparking questions surrounding her newfound commitment to keep big donors out of politics,” as Breitbart News reported.
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