If you’re an average, patriotic American who feels strongly enough about a political candidate to find some spare dollars in a time of inflated prices to send to their campaign, you are “one of the biggest problems for democracy,” according to CNN political commentator Jonah Goldberg.
Forget the fact that small donors are an “indicator of grassroots support” for a candidate, only the rich have the “strategic” wherewithal to determine “who can win,” Goldberg told CNN’s “Inside Politics” host Dana Bash on Thursday.
“There was a lot of cheering and self-congratulation about the rise of small donors a decade ago, and now small donors are actually one of the biggest problems for democracy, for the GOP, because small donors— large donors actually have a strategic view about moderation, who can win, who can’t,” Goldberg smugly stated. “Small donors really are just venting their spleen with their credit card and they lock candidates into positions that can hurt them in the general election.”
CNN’s Jonah Goldberg: “Small donors are actually one of the biggest problems for democracy and the GOP. Large donors actually have a strategic view about moderation, who can win, and who can’t. Small donors are really just venting their spleen with their credit card…”
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) August 10, 2023
Unsurprisingly, Goldberg’s take, which is being hailed as “one of the dumbest takes in his long career of dumb political commentary,” can be traced back to former President Donald Trump, who received far more contributions from small donors in Iowa than his GOP rivals, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence.
According to The New York Times, “Through the end of June, just 17 Iowans had given [DeSantis’s] campaign $200 or more, according to a report filed to the Federal Election Commission. Nikki Haley, who lags far behind him in polls, had 25 such Iowa donors, while Mr. Trump had 117. Former Vice President Mike Pence had just seven.”
Naturally, with numbers like these, the liberal media would take the leap and declare small donors to be “venting” morons, incapable of making sound political decisions.
CNN’s Bash cheered Goldberg on, claiming he made, “Such an important point.”
But CNN was singing a different tune in April 2019, when they declared, “Small donations drive more than half of 2020 Democratic money.”
More than half of the individual contributions to Democrats during the January-to-March fundraising period came in small donations, a CNN tally of new campaign finance reports shows https://t.co/2HXXrG3hKS pic.twitter.com/4FTFOKO22m
— CNN (@CNN) April 19, 2019
Back then, those small donors were seeking “to capitalize on the energy of their party’s activist base and build a grassroots foundation to sustain them for the long primary slog.”
“A small-dollar revolution in the 2018 midterms helped Democrats seize control of the House and sent Republicans scrambling to develop a small-dollar engine of their own to compete with ActBlue, the online fundraising clearinghouse helping drive liberal dollars to progressive candidates and causes,” CNN reported.
“Small donors are valuable,” the outlet stated at the time, “because they can be tapped repeatedly for money before hitting the maximum $2,800 contribution limit for the primary.”
On X, Goldberg’s take is being trashed.
“Jonah Goldberg just went on CNN and delivered one of the dumbest takes in his long career of dumb political commentary,” wrote TPUSA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk.
“Goldberg and his ilk would rather a small handful of rich elites run the country than have to deal with actual base conservatives,” he continued. “He prefers a public that is forced to listen to his inane lectures, when his most noteworthy accomplishment is helping to ruin National Review. Ignore these people.”
Jonah Goldberg just went on CNN and delivered one of the dumbest takes in his long career of dumb political commentary:
“Small donors are actually one of the biggest problems for democracy and the GOP.”
Goldberg and his ilk would rather a small handful of rich elites run the… pic.twitter.com/bjRtog6PA7
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 10, 2023
“What @JonahDispatch is saying here is that he’s mad the people who pay his salary have lost their influence in politics,” said Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
“So what I’m hearing Jonah Goldberg say is that small donors are making BIG WAVES and our love for the nation is p**sing off the deep state and the DC Swamp!” stated one X user. “Well, hell yeah! Go WE THE PEOPLE!”
What @JonahDispatch is saying here is that he’s mad the people who pay his salary have lost their influence in politics. https://t.co/cBRV6vLvBa
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) August 10, 2023
So what I’m hearing Jonah Goldberg say is that small donors are making BIG WAVES and our love for the nation is pissing off the deep state and the DC Swamp!
Well, hell yeah!
Go WE THE PEOPLE!#Trump2924 https://t.co/ugH5T9qtZ6— tisme (@Tismeimback) August 10, 2023
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