CNN Commentator Calls Small Donors ‘One of the Biggest Problems For Democracy’

CNN political commentator Jonah Goldberg called small donors “one of the biggest problems for democracy” on Thursday after CNN host Dana Bash reported that Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence had very few small donors in Iowa compared to former President Donald Trump.

Despite acknowledging that small donors were an “indicator of grassroots support” during an appearance on CNN’s Inside Politics, Goldberg said:

There was a lot of cheering and self-congratulation about the rise of small donors a decade ago, and now 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. 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.

Bash responded, “Such an important point. I wanna do an entire discussion on that later because you’re right, the sort of emails that go out, that are the screaming headlines, that are the most extreme screaming headlines, they tend to be aimed right at those small donors that you’re talking about.”

According to the New York Times, Trump had 117 Iowa small donors who donated $200 or more, while DeSantis had just 17, Pence 7, and Nikki Haley 25.

Watch above via CNN.