Billionaire Tom Steyer is refusing to donate any more money to the Democratic Party after party leaders compromised on a deal that reopened the federal government.
Steyer, who financed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, told Fortune Magazine Wednesday that he can no longer give money to a party that sells out on principles.
“I don’t have a litmus test on any one thing, but I do have a litmus test for elected officials standing on principle and doing the right thing, looked at holistically,” said Steyer, adding that he will forgo donating to the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“And I want to say that after the DACA vote I have decided not to give anything to the national party committees,” he said, referring to the Democratic Party’s decision to reach a deal to reopen the government without agreeing on what should be done about the so-called Dreamers.
Steyer has contributed more than $400,000 to the three Democratic organizations since 2015 and gave money as recently as September of last year, according to Fortune. The Democrat’s money train is stopping for now. He’s instead focusing his money on other matters.
Plowing $30 million into a campaign to get young people out to vote in this year’s election is a better use of time than running for office, the liberal billionaire said earlier this month. In addition, he is “redoubling” his effort to get Trump impeached.
Steyer, who has spent years backing various liberal campaigns, financed a nationwide ad campaign in 2017 urging the president’s removal from office. He alleged that Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election and heightened tensions with North Korea.
Many of Congress’ most entrenched Democrats are not enamored with his full-throated push to oust Trump. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called an impeachment campaign unpractical last year, suggesting that it distracts from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and could jeopardize Democratic efforts to take back Congress in 2018.
The liberal billionaire supports Mueller’s investigation, but thinks there is an “open and shut case that [Trump] has met the criteria for impeachment.” Steyer has yet to produce evidence supporting his position, and Democrats have unsuccessfully scrounged for several months to find incriminating evidence against Trump.
He is apparently holding Democrats to account for keeping him at arm’s length and bailing on the government shutdown. Dumping money on the party is a waste of resources, Steyer said during the Fortune interview. “At this point what we’ve seen from the party committees is we are at a point where we can definitely stand up for what we think is right more directly by the programs that we’re doing,” he added.
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