Missing From This Email: The Entire Transcript
On Sunday George Clooney appeared on Meet The Press to respond to the reaction of the Bernie Sanders' campaign and those of his supporters to the fundraisers he held for Hillary Clinton in California over the weekend.
Sanders protesters outside of one fundraiser banged pots, while they threw money at Clinton's motorcade at the one held at Clooney's home.
The Sanders campaign and his supporters have made it a point to attack both Clinton and Clooney over the events, using the now standard vitriol against Clinton, as well as branding Clooney a "corporate shill." What Sanders refuses to acknowledge is that the fundraisers are largely held to raise money for down ticket Dems in Congress and state party candidates, the support of which Sanders would need to get his policies passed if her were to become President. His supporters parrot his talking points and Bernie has done nothing to discourage the misinformation.
Yesterday Sanders released yet a second fundraising email using Clooney's MTP interview.
In the interview, Clooney had this partial response to Chuck Todd's question about the fundraisers:
Yes. I think it's an obscene amount of money. I think that, you know, we had some protesters last night when we pulled up in San Francisco and they're right to protest. They're absolutely right. It is an obscene amount of money. The Sanders campaign when they talk about it is absolutely right. It's ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. I agree completely.
Clooney then went on to say this:
But, you know, I think what's important and what I think the Clinton campaign has not been very good at explaining is this and this is the truth: the overwhelming amount of money that we're raising, and it is a lot, but the overwhelming amount of the money that we're raising, is not going to Hillary to run for President, it's going to the down-ticket.
It's going to the congressmen and senators to try to take back Congress. And the reason that's important and the reason it's important to me is because we need, I'm a Democrat so if you're a Republican, you're going to disagree but we need to take the senate back because we need to confirm the Supreme Court justice because that fifth vote on the Supreme Court can overturn Citizens United and get this obscene, ridiculous amount of money out so I never have to do a fundraiser again. And that's why I'm doing it.
The Sanders campaign is now seeking to raise funds off Clooney's statement, but once again, they are refusing to acknowledge that the money raised was for down ticket Democrats, a necessity in a fight against Citizens United, as stated above by Clooney, and something that many have been saying all along, myself included. Until we elect enough Democrats to take Congress back, Citizens United isn't going away. You can't take back control from the Republicans by throwing pots at them. The reality right now is you have to fight back with money, something the GOP is never short of.
This is the only part of Clooney's statement Bernie quoted in his latest campaign fundraising email to supporters:
"It is an obscene amount of money, the Sanders campaign when they talk about it is absolutely right. It’s ridiculous that we have this kind of money in politics." - George Clooney
Once again Bernie fails to set the record straight, and worse, he continues to mislead his supporters in order to get them to send him money, not to mention the fact that while Clinton has raised millions for other Democrats, Bernie refuses to do the same, even though he takes money from the party himself all the time, and yes, he's taken plenty from Hillary's PAC in the past.
It's a common refrain of Bernie's to demand Hillary Clinton release the transcript of speeches she gave as a private citizen. So the question to Bernie, if he's going to be the "honest and trustworthy" candidate as he claims to be, why not release the transcript of the George Clooney MTP interview to his supporters while asking him them for money?
The ENTIRE transcript.
