Bernie Sanders’ record-setting fundraising isn’t just notable for how much he raised, it’s also notable for how he raised it — Sanders is the only leading candidate in the Democratic leadership race for 2020 who hasn’t taken any money from billionaires.
Billionaires have incredible class solidarity and they when they back a politician, it’s generally a sign that they perceive a solid return on their investment.
I am a donor to both Bernie Sanders’s and Elizabeth Warren’s campaigns.
Sanders, a fierce critic of 2010 Supreme Court “Citizens United v. FEC” decision that allowed for individuals and corporations to give more freely to political campaigns, believes candidates who rely on big-dollar fundraisers are beholden to the interests of wealthy backers.“Why would many, many billionaires be contributing to candidates if they didn’t think they were getting something out of it? They’re not doing it through the goodness of their hearts,” he said.
A recent Forbes list found that Sanders was the only candidate among the fields’ top tier, which also includes Biden, Buttigieg, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, to not have a single billionaire donor. According to Sanders and his campaign, this means that the senator is the true champion of the working class, relying almost exclusively on small donors while his opponents show open hands to the open wallets of the ultra-wealthy.
Bernie Sanders knocks rivals for taking donations from billionaires [Cara Korte/CBS]
(Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA, modified)
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