Elizabeth Warren has drastically changed her position on super PACs in a matter of weeks as she struggles to bounce back from a disappointing showing in early presidential nominating contests.
“Yeah, except everyone on this stage except Amy and me is either a billionaire or is receiving help from PACs that can do unlimited spending,” the Massachusetts senator declared during the New Hampshire Democratic presidential debate earlier this month. “So if you really want to live where you say, then put your money where your mouth is, and say no to the PACs.”
Less than two weeks later, both Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar are accepting help from super PACs.
Persist PAC filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday and then placed about $800,000 in pro-Warren ads in Nevada media markets ahead of Saturday’s caucuses.
A super PAC called Kitchen Table Conversations formed last week and then placed $1.1 million worth of pro-Klobuchar ads in Nevada and South Carolina.
Super PACs have no contribution limits and are legally prohibited from giving to a candidate’s campaign or directly coordinating with them, but they can independently fund ads or other voter outreach efforts in support of candidates. The 2016 presidential campaign cycle saw the rise of PACs formed purely to support a specific candidate and often run by individuals who previously worked for that candidate.
Warren’s website says that she “rejects the help of Super PACs and would disavow any Super PAC formed to support her in the Democratic primary.” But she declined to do so on Thursday.
“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I’ll lead the charge. But that’s how it has to be. It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t,” Warren said on Thursday.
“We reached the point a few weeks ago that all the men who were still in this race and on the debate stage all had either super PACs or they were multibillionaires and could just, you know, rummage around in their sock drawers to find enough money to be able to fund a campaign,” Warren added.
A super PAC called Unite the Country formed to support former Vice President Joe Biden in October. VoteVets, a super PAC that supports veterans, endorsed former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in December and has run ads supporting his candidacy in early voting states. A nursing union super PAC supports Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and a “dark money” nonprofit group, Our Revolution, is supporting Sanders’s candidacy through funding grassroots efforts.
The flip for Warren comes as she tries to bounce back from a disappointing showing in the New Hampshire primary, where she came in fourth place and earned no nominating delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
[Opinion: Warren flip-flops on super PAC money, because what else did you expect?]
NEW: Here is video of Warren declining to disavow the new super PAC supporting her:
“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I’ll lead the charge. But that’s how it has to be. It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only 1 or 2 don’t.” pic.twitter.com/byxQRjGMfs
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) February 20, 2020
