Donald Trump Just Made the Case for Campaign Finance Reform

“I will tell you that our system is broken.”

Donald Trump tore up the stage at the first GOP debate, and he threw his fellow candidates into a frenzy when Fox News moderator tried to challenge him on his extensive donations to Hillary Clinton and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

“Most of the people on this stage I’ve given to, a lot of money,” Trump responded.

Several of his opponents were quick to deny that they had taken money from Trump, but apparently not all of them could stand the idea of leaving money on the table.

“You’re welcome to give me a check, Donald, if you’d like,” former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee pitched.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said, “I hope you will give to me.”

“Good, sounds good to me Governor,” Trump said.

But he wasn’t done.

“I will tell you that our system is broken. I give to many people,” he said. “I give to everybody, when they call I give, and you know what? When I need something from them, two years, three years later, I call, they are there for me.”

Asked what he got from Hillary Clinton for his donations to her 2007 Senate campaign, Trump bragged, “Well, I’ll tell you, with Hillary Clinton, I said come to my wedding and she came to my wedding, she had no choice, because I gave.”

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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