Former employees of the Obama administration are doubling down on their controversial decision to raise charitable donations to fight the Los Angeles wildfires through a left-wing political party fundraising page, telling their “right-wing arsehole” critics, “you f–k.”
“Pod Save America” hosts Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor defended the use of left-wing fundraising site ActBlue over Vote Save America — which boasts of raising nearly $64 million for “progressive causes and candidates” — after Internet critics accused them of taking advantage of tragedy as a scam to collect donor email addresses.
“For some reason, a bunch of right-wing media people and Republican operatives spent the weekend accusing us and Vote Save America of defrauding and stealing money from fire victims in our own fucking city and asking for people’s contact information so we can raise funds for political purposes,” he said. is former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau.
CALIFORNIA FIRES: IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM
Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor at Politicon at the Pasadena Convention Center on July 29, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Politicon)
The podcast hosts faced an avalanche of criticism over the weekend, with several users on Xu accusing them of questionable fundraising practices.
“They want your email and contact information more than they want to help anyone fight a fire, I guess,” National Review writer Jeff Blehar lamented in a January 11 post on X.
“F–k you,” Favreau fired back at X.
“1. We don’t harass people who donate through our fundraisers 2. People on VSA mailing lists are there because they opt in or sign up 3. The only reason we organize fundraisers this way is so people don’t have to go to more places to give, and we can check all the local organizations in advance,” he added.
“Putting disaster relief through Democrat Super PACs (or diverting disaster money to Democrat Super PACs) is a pretty perfect example of why nobody trusts today’s Democrats,” Republican political operative Matt Whitlock posted.
Fellow Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett replied that he was Whitlock he was among the “right wingers” whose “lies” “brought much-needed attention” to the fundraiser.
Favreau said the allegations made him “more angry and upset than anything in a really long time” and asserted that they did not use the fund to extort money or collect email addresses. ActBlue Charities only charges a 4% credit card processing fee, and all other money goes directly to local relief organizations, Favreau explained.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom is also faced a backlash for using ActBlue to raise funds for disaster victims in his state. Newsom’s spokesman denied the money went to the governor or his super PAC in a statement to Fox News Digital.
