Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg sparred over deep-pocketed donors in Thursday night's Politico/PBS Newshour Democratic debate. Warren blasted the South Bend mayor for having a fundraiser in a “wine cave full of crystals and served $900/bottle wine” and Buttigieg answered back by pointing out Warren's hypocrisy on the topic.
Said Warren: “He had promised that every fundraiser he would do, would be open door, but this one was close door. We made the decision years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president fo the United States.”
A fact check shows “the event being closed door isn't entirely accurate. A pool reporter, Mike DeWald of radio station KSRO, was present for at least a portion of the wine cave event and filed a report that could be used by other publications. However, Warren's campaign noted that the pool reporter was not permitted to attend the dinner portion of the event.”
Replied Buttigieg: “You know, according to Forbes magazine, I am literally the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire. … This is the problem with issuing purity tests you yourself cannot pass. … Senator your net worth is 100 times mine (Warren is worth $12 million, according to Forbes). … 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.”
Warren later responded to Buttigieg's assertions: “”I don't think the American people are looking for purity. They're looking for someone who's trying. And that's what I'm doing.”
