‘I’ve Got to Spend All of My Time at the Iowa State Fair’ to Get on Debate Stage, Republican Candidate Complains to MSNBC

Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson complained about having “to spend all of my time at the Iowa State Fair” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Thursday, before arguing that the Republican Party’s small donor debate requirements were “not good for our democratic process.”

After Hutchinson was asked whether certain Republican presidential candidates should be investigated over the way they raise small donations to meet the Republican debate threshold, he said:

I’m not criticizing them and their means of collecting the 40,000, but the fact is I’m not a self-funded candidate and the RNC rules is burdensome on the candidates to, instead of focusing on other ways of raising money and focusing on other styles of campaigning, I’ve got to spend all of my time at the Iowa State Fair trying to get on to the debate stage with $1 contributions, and so that’s not helpful and it’s not good for our democratic process.

Hutchinson is just one of several Republican presidential candidates taking part in the Iowa State Fair in an effort to curry favour with Iowa voters.

Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence delivered a speech at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, while former President Donald Trump is scheduled to make an appearance over the weekend. Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Larry Elder, and Francis Suarez are also scheduled to speak.

CNN political commentator and former National Review editor Jonah Goldberg also criticized small donations on Thursday and called small donors “one of the biggest problems for democracy.”

“Small donors are actually one of the biggest problems for democracy, for the GOP, because small donors— large donors actually have a strategic view about moderation, who can win, who can’t,” Goldberg said. “Small donors really are just venting their spleen with their credit card and they lock candidates into positions that can hurt them in the general election.”

Watch above via MSNBC.