In Republican debate, little talk about big money
Super PACs running presidential shadow campaigns? Nary a word.
“Dark money” nonprofits pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into politics? Nada.
Seventeen Republican presidential candidates — 10 in a main event, seven in an undercard — gathered Thursday in Cleveland and largely avoided debating several weighty campaign finance issues that have already dominated Election 2016.
But there were a few exceptions amid their sparring over foreign policy, social issues, immigration and education.
Midway through the debate, Fox News co-moderator Bret Baier explained that Donald Trump has given money to numerous Democrats over the years.
Baier then noted that Trump has previously stated that politicians do favors for contributions.
“You better believe it,” Trump told Baier.
“I give to everybody. When they call, I give,” Trump said, quickly adding that he considers the nation’s political money system a “broken system.”
Trump said that a decade ago, after he made a donation to Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, then a senator, he asked Clinton to come to his wedding.
“She had no choice, because I gave,” Trump said. (A Clinton aide said Trump's assertion was "ridiculous" and "hurt" Clinton's feelings.)
Trump then noted that he’s given money to some of the nine presidential hopefuls on the stage with him during the two-hour debate at Quicken Loans Arena.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, however, interrupted him, saying he hasn’t received a contribution from Trump.
“You’re welcome to give me a check, Donald, if you want,” Huckabee said.
Left unsaid between the two White House hopefuls: According to federal campaign finance records, Trump in 2012 made a $2,500 to Huck PAC, a political action committee led by Huckabee.
In another exchange, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie poked at Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky for giving speeches on the floor of the U.S. Senate — then quickly posting the videos online and fundraising off of them.
Paul didn’t immediately have an opportunity to respond, and the two politicians never returned to the issue.
From January through June, three dozen presidential candidate-backing super PACs collectively raised more than $266 million while the campaigns of 2016 presidential hopefuls collectively raised just half that much — about $130 million — according to a Center for Public Integrity review.
Election 2016 is on pace to easily become the most expensive federal election in U.S. history.
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Primary Source. Primary Source keeps you up-to-date on developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics. Click here to read more stories in this blog.
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Copyright 2015 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
