Elizabeth Warren’s Campaign Fundraising Plummets 30% in Fourth Quarter

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) presidential campaign emailed an urgent fundraising plea to supporters on Friday, conceding it experienced a 30 percent drop in contributions in the fourth quarter.

The campaign revealed to supporters it has raised $17 million in the fourth quarter, a sizeable drop from its $24.6 million haul in the third quarter, as first noted by CNBC.

“So far this quarter, we’ve raised a little over $17 million. That’s a good chunk behind where we were at this time last quarter,” the memo reads.

The quarter concludes in four days (December 31st.)

The drop comes as Warren, once nearly tied with former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democrat primary frontrunner, has seen a steady decline in support, according to state and national polling averages.

The Massachusetts Democrat’s signature proposal, Medicare for All, has received a mixed reception since unveiling it last month. To pay for the eyewatering $20.5 trillion plan, she has floated a wealth tax of 2 percent of every dollar over $50 million of an individuals’ net worth, a rate which would climb to 6 percent for those worth over $1 billion. Earlier this month, Warren softened her chief health care proposal, labeling it as a “choice” and has begun reframing it as a transition plan, which would allow individuals to opt-in to a public option.

“We’re going to push through health care that’s available to everyone,” Warren recently told voters in Clinton, Iowa. “You don’t have to, but it’s your choice, if you want to come in and get full health care coverage.”

The development also comes as Warren ratchets up her attacks on the donor class. She’s accused former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg of attempting to buy the primary and took aim at South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg during the last DNC debate for holding a high-dollar fundraiser in what she described as a “wine cave.”

Despite her refusal to accept donor money for her 2020 bid, the senator held a fundraiser at City Winery Boston in 2018, which included a souvenir wine bottle and “VIP experiences” for donors.

Warren’s hypocritical stance on donors caught the attention of Obama strategist David Axelrod, who called her attack on Buttigieg “an unforced error.”

‘This was the danger in the @ewarren “wine cave” attack on @PeteButtigieg. Her own past fundraising practices were pretty much in line with his, including even some of the same high dollar sponsors. She invited stories like this. Unforced error,” he tweeted last week.

Of course, Warren’s no strange to self-inflicted political harm. She infamously alleged having Native America heritage — an erroneous declaration she’s been accused of leveraging to advance her career — and has had to since apologize several times for doing so.