Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:58 pm
George Clooney is being attacked for participating in Democratic Party fundraisers with Hillary Clinton, but Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has raised no money to help Democrats retake the House and Senate in 2016.
On Meet The Press, George Clooney said that overwhelming majority of the money that he is raising at Democratic fundraisers is going to support Democrats down ballot, not Hillary Clinton.
Clooney said, “But, you know, I think what’s important and what I think the Clinton campaign has not been very good at explaining is this and this is the truth: the overwhelming amount of money that we’re raising, and it is a lot, but the overwhelming amount of the money that we’re raising, is not going to Hillary to run for President, it’s going to the down-ticket. It’s going to the congressmen and senators to try to take back Congress. And the reason that’s important and the reason it’s important to me is because we need, I’m a Democrat so if you’re a Republican, you’re going to disagree but we need to take the senate back because we need to confirm the Supreme Court justice because that fifth vote on the Supreme Court can overturn Citizens United and get this obscene, ridiculous amount of money out so I never have to do a fundraiser again. And that’s why I’m doing it.”
Sanders admitted that he has raised no money for 2016 Democrats on ABC’s This Week:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get a response now from Senator Bernie Sanders. He’s here live in the studio this morning. Senator Sanders, welcome back.
You just heard Secretary Clinton right there. Implicit defense of her fundraisers in California last night saying she’s raising money for Democrats. By contrast, her campaign has said that’s something you haven’t done.
SANDERS: That’s not accurate, George. We have over the years sent out a lot of letters for Democratic candidates.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Not in this campaign.
SANDERS: No, not in this campaign. But in the past, we have, and raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates.
If Bernie Sanders wants all the benefits of being in the Democratic Party, he needs to pitch in and help down ballot candidates. Sanders did solicit donations for three progressive activists who are challenging Democrats in House primaries, but Sen. Sanders can’t be expected to be treated like a full member of the “family” if he isn’t helping other Democrats win.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is a progressive hero, but she is also a loyal Democrats who travels the country tirelessly campaigning and raising money for Democratic candidates. Sen. Al Franken is another progressive hero who has worked hard to help get more Democrats elected.
Bernie Sanders has built an incredible online fundraising machine, and he could generate a lot of goodwill by doing a little fundraising to help Democrats retake the Senate.
Sen. Sanders is fond of saying that no president can do it alone. This is true. It is also true that no presidential candidate can do it alone. Bernie Sanders is a good man who has run a great campaign, but there is no way that George Clooney should be raising more money for down ballot Democrats at this point in the 2016 campaign than a man who has hopes of being the Democratic nominee.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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