Heated Debate on Twitter/X After Democrats Share ‘Act Blue’ Links for LA Wildfire Charity Donations
“Any reason you’re funneling donations through a left-wing company that takes 4% of the donation for its services rather than right to the charities?”
As the Los Angeles wildfires continue to rage, and while the heat is on public officials in California in a much different way, many Americans watching the news unfold on cable news networks and social media are looking for ways to help the victims as they navigate through the heartbreak of losing their homes, their communities – and in some cases, loved ones.
While there are many options out there for those wanting to help various Democrats are sharing their own donation links, claiming “100 percent” of them will go to the charities mentioned.
For example, there was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who posted this link:
To help support the communities around L.A. being devastated by wildfires, can you split a donation between the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles? 100% of your donation will go directly to these organizations: https://t.co/EtgMfHrEtq
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 11, 2025
As you can see from the bottom of the tweet, it was Community Noted by Twitter/X users who pointed out that the link was to ActBlue, a Democrat fundraising platform, where nearly four percent of donations go to “transaction/service fees.” Additionally, when you go to donate, you are asked for your email address.
And now Warren is also asking people to help the fire victims by donating through left-wing fundraising company ActBlue rather than directly to the charities.
ActBlue takes 4% of transactions for itself https://t.co/egl3f2bESc and collects your contact information… https://t.co/hLU6r3Gxa9
— Sunny (@sunnyright) January 11, 2025
Any reason you’re funneling donations through a left-wing company that takes 4% of the donation for its services rather than right to the charities?
— Sunny (@sunnyright) January 11, 2025
Warren wasn’t alone. The Obama Bros at Pod Save America, who recently interviewed California Gov. Gavin Newsom, shared their own ActBlue link, similarly promised 100 percent of donations would go to their selected charities:
🚨 NEW: A far-left group is now soliciting donations under the guise of donating to "disaster relief" for the California wildfires.
The Democratic Party PAC "Vote Save America" via the Democratic fundraising arm "ActBlue" is the real source of this donation.
To give directly to… pic.twitter.com/RretaiA72Q
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 11, 2025
Using ActBlue for donations for fire victims so they can use the list for future Dem campaigns is diabolical. You can’t hate these people enough. Shame on everyone involved with this podcast and this episode. https://t.co/RnxJQaFxAN
— Brittany (@bccover) January 11, 2025
Some of the “Bros,” like Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett, were extremely irate and defensive over the criticism (language warning):
Fuck you.
1. We don't bother people who donate through our relief funds
2. People on VSA email lists are there because they opt in or sign up
3. The only reason we organize relief funds this way is so people don't have to go to multiple sites to give, and we can vet all the… https://t.co/OvD9KQeDGX
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 11, 2025
These lies by rightwing assholes are drawing much needed attention to our relief fund which directs ALL THE MONEY DIRECTLY TO RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS
Please see for yourself and donate now at https://t.co/Y3dv8JrNR2 https://t.co/Xi9KG85zyJ
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) January 11, 2025
Several critics pointed out that those who wanted to donate had no choice but to provide their email addresses prior to donating:
Oh whoops. Look at what we have here!
People have no choice but to give their emails https://t.co/kum7LmIP0O
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) January 11, 2025
Gov. Newsom also created a page on his campaign website ostensibly to counteract what he calls “disinformation” about the wildfires and the city/county/state’s response to them. However, users must provide their email addresses to sign up for updates. And the wildfire donations link on his website goes to, you guessed it, ActBlue:
It’s his campaign website and the donation link for the fire response goes to ActBlue and tells you you’re consenting to sign up for his campaign messages https://t.co/rkdQX0Bzzj pic.twitter.com/8M55ngD4P9
— Sunny (@sunnyright) January 12, 2025
My thought process on this is that it’s just unseemly all the way around to send out links from a political fundraising platform in situations like these. Even if their intentions are good, it’s still a bad look and invites the type of criticism and skepticism Warren, Newsom, and the Obama Bros received.
And for the record, I’d say this if the donation link was a WinRed link, too.
In my opinion, if someone wants to donate to an organization that is helping the California wildfire victims, they should donate directly to them.
At least that way if you do get emails and other types of solicitation in return, it will be from that particular charity itself and not a massive political operation that will share it with candidates and their campaigns and causes.
-Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter/X.-
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Comments
Just when you thought you couldn’t think less of the PodSaveAmerica losers, they lower the bar even further. That’s a scum of the Earth move, right there.
For Augustine, charity is thinking the best of people instead of the worst. That’s at least soul-saving, in addition to being the opposite of every motive going on at the moment. He needs a website.
That assumes their motives are in doubt. The leftists directing donations to ActBlue instead of directly to charities have left no doubt as to their motives.
The Left doesn’t realize that the horse is not out of the barn, but that the barn burned down around the horse.
Preening concern to cover for their actions. Never let a crisis go to waste especially when one created it in the first place. This isn’t a “natural” disaster as everything they did set the stage for the inevitable. The nation should not bear the brunt of salvaging the Left. It is up to the people of California to deal with this… no bail outs.
And once again, Democrats prove that they are lower than whalesh!t at the bottom of the ocean. However much you hate them, it isn’t nearly enough.
Wow!
The left: “Donate using our site, because we care!”
Potential donors: “You demand our email and other contact information, and keep 4%.”
The left: “Fuck you! You are wrong! We lied, but we still want your donation.”
Yeah. Insult me as you ask for my money. I have more faith in Bernie Madoff.
How does donating money to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Foundation help victims of these wildfires? Their website claims they buy tools and equipment for firefighters. Do they want to give that equipment away to Ukraine, too? Ditto with United Way of Greater Los Angeles. There’s no reason to believe the money will go for anything other than for more fund raising begathons or executive salaries. And, of course, the 4% for ActBlue.
Exactly. Money is fungible, so the amount you give to the LAFD and UW just offsets what they do to support illegals, homeless, and for that matter, Newsome. I stopped donating to things like this years ago when I realized that when I did, I was donating against my and others’ best interests. I also refuse to donate to any political funds, especially after seeing what they do with their campaign chests. The message is “give us your money to spend the way we see fit. We know better than you do what works best.” Sure they do.
No mas.
As Nicky Santoro/Joe Pesci of the film “Casino” might say, “For Democrats, it’s the dollars. Always the f***ing dollars.”
The aggravating thing about this is that only media like LI will cover the story. The mainstream (i.e., legacy) media wouldn’t deign to carry this story because it makes the left look bad.
Now if a Republican had done this …
Surprised that BLM hasn’t gotten in on the grift. 100% of your donation goes right to their mansion fund, just like always.
What do you mean you are surprised that BLM hasn’t gotten in on the grift.
This is the BLM donations URL. ACTBLUE
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2301_website_blm_gnf?refcode=2024_top_right_main_nav_new&_gl=1*3prc1f*_gcl_au*NDcxNjk3ODczLjE3MzY3MzMxNDE.
I’m shocked, SHOCKED that the founder of BLM’s 2 out of 3 mansions burned down.
After donating to a Republican running for office and had to use WinRed to do it I was inundated with endless “gimme money” emails and texts from every candidate across the country. Not a chance in hell I’d use ActBlue for any reason much less give them my email.
Allegedly the big reason they’re doing this is mot because of the 4% commission, but supposedly they get financial credit for all of these ‘charitable donations’ they are funneling through ActBlue, and that significantly increases the cap of donations they are allowed to give.
I am not a finance lawyer, but it’d been explained to me that essentially the entire point of this is to launder charitable donations through them so that cap goes WAY up.
The guy that explained it to me also said it’s likely that they’re going to completely eaive the 4% commission and acr like that solves all criticism, because the big prize of that gigantic ‘charitable donation’ on their ledger is far more valuable anyway.
“Any reason you’re funneling donations through a left-wing company that takes 4% of the donation for its services rather than right to the charities?”
Because they don’t have the Biden-level juice to demand 10%.
Always research the organization your donating to. A prime example is I donate to Disabled American Veterans (DAV) instead of Wounded Warrior (WW)’ The DAV’s only paid employees are the truck drivers who pick up donations. Most of the senior management of WW have 6 figure salaries.
I’m a firm believer in giving charity directly to the recipient to avoid the grifter rakeoff.
Ironically, one of the few circumstances where that is impossible is political donations, I have asked a number of candidates if they have a direct donation channel that does not go through WinRed. I have to assume from the universal lack of ANY response that the answer is no, and that their silence is due to a tight NDA they have to sign with WinRed in order to benefit from their services at all.
Furthermore, my understanding is that no matter to which particular candidate you explicitly target your donation, some pre-arranged percentage goes into a common pot to support the RINOs no patriotic Republican would otherwise support — much as the United Way/Combined Federal Campaign adjust the payouts from their “unspecified donations pot” to normalize for any exceptional “defined donations” to causes they make available only with great reluctance, such as the NRA Foundation.
Also I don’t like Newsom and Warren asking for donations, period. Biden said he was going to cover things for 6 mos and taxpayer dollars are going to CA. I know they’ll need a yacht full of money, but both of those pols need to keep it in their pants and let regular citizens handle the donation side of things. This whole thing is off even if they waive the transaction fees and I think Warren needs to be censured and Newsom needs tar and feathers. BTW Newsom thinks CA is leading the nation in environmentalism do goody stuff, which is why his efforts can be seen from space.
Ah, “Fuck you” — that’s the infantile and petulant response of the vile Obama’s self-reverential acolytes, to legitimate criticism. Juvenile swearing. Seems that the critics touched a nerve.
The Dhimmi-crats are such despicable, stupid and vile reprobates.
It’s just like Democrats to claim to be supporting charities, then direct donations to a political website that takes a cut for Democrat activism. Given the leftists’ penchant for lying, it’s fair to ask if the charities even see a penny. Finally, the Democrat site should be forced to give its cut to the charities to provide what was advertised: a charitable contribution. The reality of a contribution minus a cut for Democrats wasn’t “as advertised” by crooks like Fauxocahontas Warren!
If you need to donate, look into the various hurricane relief funds –you know, that help the people Biden’s operators WEREN’T falling over themselves to pay for.
Don’t waste money on people who voted to set California on fire. They’re only going to do it again next month.
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