Jane Lynch Criticized for Saying Billionaires Have as Much a Right to Choose President as Waitresses
Jane Lynch is weighing in on Pete Buttigieg‘s controversial wine cave fundraiser that Elizabeth Warren discounted at the Democratic debate on Thursday night.
Lynch — a Buttigieg donor — told Warren on Twitter on Friday that “class warfare is ugly,” adding that “billionaires in wine caves have as much right to say who gets to be president as waitresses in diners and plumbers in my bathroom.”
But the actress’ message wasn’t well-received by everyone, and many on the social media platform were quick to defend’s Warren’s criticism of Buttigieg’s “closed-door” fundraiser at a winery in Napa Valley.
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“Hello everyone. Billionaires in wine caves have as much right to say who gets to be president as waitresses in diners and plumbers in my bathroom. Class warfare is ugly, @ewarren Thanks for listening everyone,” Lynch’s full tweet read.
One Twitter user responded that Lynch’s take on the subject “minimizes the corrupting influence of money in politics.”
“When waitresses & plumbers can buy access to people running for president, then we can discuss how class warfare is unfair to the wealthy,” another said.
Hello everyone. Billionaires in wine caves have as much right to say who gets to be president as waitresses in diners and plumbers in my bathroom. Class warfare is ugly, @ewarren Thanks for listening everyone.
— Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) December 20, 2019
“One billionaire shouldn’t have more say than all the plumbers in the whole country,” another user chimed in.
“The mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900-a-bottle wine,” Warren said on the debate stage on Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Think about who comes to that. He had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open-door, but this one was closed-door. We made the decision years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States.”
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Warren added, “Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States.”
“This is the problem with issuing purity tests that you yourself cannot pass,” the South Bend, Indiana mayor responded, noting that he was the only non-millionaire or billionaire on the stage.
Lynch has donated at least $2,500 to Buttigieg’s campaign, according to the Los Angeles Times, and has also hosted fundraising events for the mayor, as Variety reported in April.
A rep for Lynch did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
