Critics have reacted with anger and mockery after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and prominent national Democrats sent fundraising emails following the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision in a landmark abortion case.
The DNC sent emails to those on its mailing list seeking donations after the release of the Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and in one case a plea for funds was attributed directly to President Joe Biden.
The court overturned 1973’s landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade that found a constitutional right to abortion along with 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which affirmed Roe.
The DNC appealed for $7 donations in emails attributed to Team DNC and DNC HQ, respectively, and made the same request in an email ostensibly from President Biden “to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot this November.”
Other Democrats who may be considered household names also sent fundraising emails. They included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke.
Writer and performer Matt Gehring took to Twitter on Friday and shared screenshots of one email from the DNC. He wrote: “and with that, I’m unsubscribing from the @DNC . if they had any decency, they’d direct folks to donate to abortion funds.”
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show appeared to mock the fundraising efforts in a tweet from its official account on Friday, posting: “EVERYONE: [apoplectically angry]” and adding “DEMOCRATIC POLITICIANS: We hear you. Please donate $3 so we can fight back against the Supreme Court with a Pro-Choice Karaoke Night in 12 weeks.”
Nina Turner, a progressive Democrat and former Ohio state senator, warned on Twitter on Friday that Democrats “will all send out fundraising emails asking for money to ‘fight back’ once the decision drops, whether that’s today or another time.”
“No legislation, just emails,” she wrote before the Court published its opinion in Dobbs.
“I’ve gotten six fundraising emails from Democrat candidates today. It’s tacky and highlights a real disconnect between many politicians and their constituents that is only growing,” author Roxane Gay tweeted.
Speaker Pelosi appears to have sent a variety of fundraising emails through various mailing lists where she is quoted as saying “Trump’s Supreme Court just ruled to rip reproductive rights away from every single woman in this country.”
The progressive Gravel Institute shared a screenshot of one of those emails on Twitter that shows a request for a $15 donation. Subscribers to Senator Amy Klobuchar’s mailing list also received an email attributed to Pelosi asking for a donation split between the two Democrats’ campaigns.
Klobuchar also sent a separate email to her mailing list asking for a split donation between her own campaign and Emily’s List, an organization that works to elect women who support abortion rights.
Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke sent an email seeking a donation of $3.
“The only way to overcome today’s Supreme Court decision is to win this race for governor,” his email said.
Senator Elizabeth Warren also sent an appeal for funds but she did not ask for donations to her campaign. Rather, Warren asked for donations to Michigan group Reproductive Freedom for All and Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, both of which are campaigning for abortion rights.
Newsweek has asked the DNC, Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar and the Beto O’Rourke campaign for comment.
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