Sanders Debate Performance Prompts $1.3 Million In Donations

By Lina Bryce

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says he raised $1.3 million during the four-hour long Democratic Debate on CNN Tuesday evening.

He appears to have generated much excitement during the debate (drawing the most applause when he shouted “the American people are sick and tired of talking about your damn e-mail”), indicated by a sharp uptick in donations, according to John Wagner’s latest report in the Washington Post.

Wagner reports that the self-described democratic socialist claims to have raised the money as a result of enthusiasm for his campaign. He had raised $26 million in the previous quarter, keeping pace with Clinton who raised about $28 million.

During the debate, there was much scrutiny from many of the potential candidates regarding campaign financing. Sanders did not hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity to solicit more donations in his closing statement:

‘Jim Webb is right. Money is pouring into this campaign through Super PACs. We are doing it the old-fashioned way– 650,000 individual contributions. And if people want to help us out BernieSanders.com –we are average thirty bucks a piece, we would appreciate your help.’

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Although Sanders claims that he has not received any PAC money, he does have a fair share of top contributors from special interest groups such as union lobbies, quasi-governmental organizations, and some large food industry corporations.

It’s clear that Sanders’s supporters will hardly take notice of any benefit that these special interest groups stand to gain, as grassroots socialists continue to rally behind his campaign.

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WATCH: Sen. Bernie Sanders Closing Remarks