Amid a rejection of wealthy donors influencing presidential campaigns, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg ripped Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for "issuing purity tests" she cannot pass.
"You know, according to Forbes magazine, I'm literally the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire," Buttigieg shot back at Warren during Thursday night's Democratic presidential primary debate. "So, this is important. This is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass.
"If I pledge never to be in the company of a progressive Democratic donor, I couldn't be up here. Senator your net worth is 100 times mine. Suppose you went home and felt the holiday spirit – I know this isn't likely, but stay with me – and decided to go on Pete.com and gave the maximum, would that pollute my campaign because it came from a wealthy person?
"No. I would be glad to have that support. We need the support to everybody who is invested to help beat Donald Trump."
The exchange spurred a lively debate on campaign finance reform, most pointing the ire at Trump and Republican Super PACs.
"If you can't say no to a donor, then you have no business running for office in the first place," Buttigieg continued. "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. Did it corrupt you, senator? Of course not.
"So, to denounce the same kind of fundraising guidelines that President Obama went by, that Speaker Pelosi goes by, that you yourself went by until not long ago, in order to build the Democratic party and build a campaign ready for the fight of our lives, these purity tests shrink the stakes of the most important election."
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