Heated Debate on Twitter/X After Democrats Share ‘Act Blue’ Links for LA Wildfire Charity Donations
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:
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.
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:
Some of the “Bros,” like Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett, were extremely irate and defensive over the criticism (language warning):
Several critics pointed out that those who wanted to donate had no choice but to provide their email addresses prior to donating:
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:
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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