As Sen. Elizabeth Warren rails against the influence of America’s richest companies in politics and presents herself as an advocate for lower-income voters, top aides on her 2020 presidential campaign are reportedly working behind-the-scenes to court big-money donors.
Her top campaign finance officers Paul Egerman and Shanti Fry are “organizing trips, hosting events and acting as conduits for information about the campaign” for potential megadonors, according to Politico. The report highlights a break from a narrative defining Warren’s bid for the White House: a reliance on small individual donations to prop up a campaign determined to change the way Wall Street controls what happens in Washington, D.C.
On the campaign trail, the Massachusetts Democrat often complains about corporate greed leaving average Americans behind. She has vowed to make the biggest American corporations pay “their fair share in taxes.” Her liberal policy proposals, including “Medicare for all” and a nationwide student loan forgiveness program, would rely heavily on revenue generated from a tax on the country’s wealthiest people and businesses.
During a recent debate, Warren said she was “really shocked at the notion that anyone thinks I’m punitive” when it comes to capitalism.
“Look, I don’t have a beef with billionaires,” she said.
Yet, a coffee mug with the words “billionaire tears” is a popular item available for purchase on her campaign’s website.
“People are doing lots of events — there’s enormous enthusiasm for her,” Elyse Cherry, a Boston-based donor who helped organize a recent Warren event, told Politico. “The screaming coming from Wall Street, it has not changed the enthusiasm one bit.”
People close to Egerman and Fry said the two have been courting wealthy supporters of Warren’s policies on healthcare, gun control, and immigration.
Should she secure the Democratic nomination for president, Warren has said she would be open to recruiting more affluent benefactors and compiling a vast enough war chest to rival that of President Trump.
Still polling among the top of the 2020 Democratic candidates, Warren hovers around 17% in most national polls.
Campaign finance records show she has raised more than $60 million since announcing her candidacy, with about $25 million on hand to date. Small donations — those less than $200 — have accounted for nearly 54% of her total contributions.
Within her own party, Warren is seen by many as an anti-establishment candidate, calling for a systematic overhaul in the American political and economic system overall. Former President Barack Obama was quoted over the weekend saying this could be a slippery slope for Democrats.
“The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it,” Obama said.
“The billionaires can whine all they want,” Warren tweeted over the weekend. “That won’t stop us from fighting for big, structural change to make our economy work for the people.”
The billionaires can whine all they want. That won’t stop us from fighting for big, structural change to make our economy work for the people.https://t.co/MDguOCg8dz
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 17, 2019
