Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is ranked 2nd in the polls, behind Joe Biden and ahead of Bernie Sanders . Her campaign’s focus on taxing Wall Street has caused many to place her in the same boat as Sanders, although the former Republican is often seen as more moderate than the Vermont Senator.
The New York Post now reports that Warren has received donations from more than 30 billionaires for her presidential and Senate campaigns. The donations reportedly came from 2011 to 2019, most of which were from individual billionaires either at or near the maximum contribution limit, which is currently $5,600 across both the primary and general election.
Warren has refused to attend big-money fundraisers for the Democratic primary, and although she was going to begin attending them if she secured the nomination, she recently walked this plan back . She has touted her grassroots support and taken aim at billionaires during an appearance on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show .
“This is a moment for all of the Democratic nominees as they come into the race to say, in a Democratic primary, we are going to link arms and we’re going to say grassroots funding. No to the billionaires, no to the billionaires, whether they are self-funding or whether they’re funding PACs. We are the Democratic Party and that’s the party of the people.”
According to RNC spokesman Steve Guest, Warren is a “fraud.”
“If you look up ‘fraud’ in the dictionary, you’ll see a photo of Elizabeth Warren,” he said, pointing to the controversy over her Native American heritage and her claims about her campaign’s grassroots funding.
I don’t spend call time asking rich donors to throw big dollar fundraisers or underwrite my campaign. My call time is spent with grassroots donors, thanking them for chipping in whatever they can. Mind if I make just a few more? pic.twitter.com/TDo9EkNpA1
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) October 15, 2019
Jordan Chariton, journalist and CEO of Status Coup, also revealed that Warren’s endorsement from the progressive Working Families Party (WFP) came following donations from Demos , a thinktank for which Warren’s daughter, Amelia, is chairwoman. Chariton reported that the donation was meant as a “signal” that more money would be on the way if the WFP endorsed Warren.
Regardless, Warren supporters suggest that the candidate’s attempt to change the system from inside should not be attacked. Per The New York Times , Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee — which endorsed Warren — said candidates like Warren are facing criticism for “not taking every step possible all at once.”
Warren is currently 2nd in the polls with 23.4 percent support. She is set to take the debate stage tonight alongside Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Beto O’Rourke, Cory Booker, Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, and Tulsi Gabbard.