Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Makes Maximum Donation to Tulsi Gabbard
Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is well down on the list of presidential candidates in just about every poll.
But Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has made a major investment in Gabbard’s candidacy, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Dorsey donated $2,800 to Gabbard’s primary campaign and another $2,800 to her general election campaign fund, the maximum he can legally give.
Gabbard averages 1.4 percent support among Democrats running for president, according to Real Clear Politics. Her peak poll in February showed her with 5 percent support, although more recent Economist/YouGov polls have shown her at 3 percent.
Tulsi Gabbard is now consistently polling in the same range as Cory Booker & Beto O’Rourke without having nowhere near as much media coverage as those two. With fair media coverage, Tulsi can definitely break in the top 5. #TULSI2020 #TULSIPOLL pic.twitter.com/2jAbpMtV90
— Tulsi Gabbard for POTUS (@tulsi4potus) July 12, 2019
The donations were reported first by Buzzfeed, which noted they came soon after Gabbard’s performance at the first pair of Democratic presidential debates in Miami.
After Gabbard’s performance, the Drudge Report’s non-scientific instant poll showed Gabbard the winner of the first night’s debate with 45 percent of those participating calling her the winner, The Hill reported.
Gabbard had harsh words for Sen. Kamala Harris of California after Harris was declared by many the winner of the second evening of debates for attacking the civil rights record of former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Really what she’s saying is her position is the same one she was criticizing Joe Biden for,” she said, according to CBS News. “So this is just a political ploy and I think a very underhanded one just to try to get herself attention, to move herself up in the polls.”
“I think we need to be above that,” Gabbard said. “All of us.”
A spokesperson for Twitter told Buzzfeed it would not comment on Dorsey’s donations and has refused comment to other media outlets, including Fox News.
“We don’t comment on Jack’s personal giving,” said a spokesperson for Twitter.
Dorsey also gave another $1000 to Andrew Yang on April 30, per FEC filingshttps://t.co/FDbE80qdOb
— Katherine Miller (@katherinemiller) July 16, 2019
Gizmodo suggested that Dorsey might support Gabbard because she flouts the conventions of the political world just as much as he does in a different sphere. Gabbard has said she strongly opposes military intervention aimed at regime change.
Gabbard’s donation from Dorsey comes as The New York Times analyzed Democratic donations and found the front-runners are the main magnets for cash.
In the second quarter, five candidates raised three-quarters of all the cash donated, the report said.
Those five — South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Biden, and Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Harris — collectively raised $96 million, The Times reported.
Gabbard, by contrast, raised $1.6 million. The Times report said that 69 percent of her money came from donors who gave less than $200.
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