Montana Gov. Steve Bullock attacked billionaire Tom Steyer, accusing the Democratic National Committee of creating rules that allowed him to buy his way into the fall presidential debates.
“I think the DNC rules were well-intentioned, but what it really has done is allowed a billionaire to buy a spot on the debate stage,” Bullock said Tuesday. “Tom Steyer just spent $10 million to get 130,000 — we’re getting to the point where we’re spending money online as opposed to actually talking to voters.”
Bullock, 53, released a statement as well as an appearance on cable news to air his grievances against Steyer and the DNC.
The Montana Democrat missed the first Democratic presidential debate in June but qualified for the second in July. He is currently short of the requirements to qualify for the next debate with four polls of at least 2% support and 130,000 individual donors.
Steyer, 62, announced Tuesday he had reached the necessary 130,000 donors to make the debates with just one more poll to qualify.
I’m thrilled to announce that today we’ve reached the required 130,000 individual donors to appear in September’s debate. Just one more qualifying poll stands between us and that stage!
Thanks to all who’ve contributed even $1 to this movement. We can’t do this without you.
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) August 13, 2019
Nine candidates so far have qualified for the fall debates. Bullock is polling behind Steyer with less than 0.5% support according to RealClearPolitics. Steyer, who entered the race in July, has promised to spend $100 million on his bid for the presidency.
