After Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) went after South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg for his glittering wine cave fundraiser during the debate, a story of her own boozy fundraiser came to light.
According to the Associated Press, she held a June 2018 fundraiser shortly before she made her presidential announcement at City Winery Boston.
Top donors in the $2,700-$5,400 market got a photo reception and premium seating as rewards. But even for the smaller spenders, $1,000 got them a souvenir wine bottle.
Warren has made the switch to swearing off big donor events, preferring large and public fundraisers. She still has some loopholes left in for big donors to make pages on ActBlue page though, and used $10 million from her senatorial campaign (when she was not eschewing big donors) to kick off her presidential bid.
However, she has painted herself more in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to distinguish herself from candidates like Buttigieg who often hold small, expensive and exclusive events.
This led to the tensest moment of Thursday’s debate, when Warren and Buttigieg exchanged heated blows over each other’s coziness with wealthy donors. Warren jabbed that she doesn’t “sell access to her time,” while Buttigieg accused her of setting “purity tests” that she herself “cannot pass.”
