On Friday, actress Jane Lynch waded into dangerous political territory for someone in Hollywood by criticizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Twitter.
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
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 tweet came one day after the sixth Democratic debate during which Warren got into a tiff with rival Pete Buttigieg about wealthy campaign donors.
At Thursday’s debate, Sen. Warren criticized the idea of relying on high-dollar donations, stating in part: “We can’t have people who can put down $5,000 for a check drown out the voices of everyone else. They don’t in my campaign and they won’t in my white house.”
Buttigieg, who suggested the remark was directed at him, rebutted Warren’s notion, saying that Democrats cannot “defeat” President Trump “with one hand tied behind our back.”
Then came the now-infamous line from Warren:
So, the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900-a-bottle wine. 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 many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States. Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States.
Warren added that she doesn’t “sell access” to her time, and doesn’t “meet behind closed doors with big dollar donors.”
Buttigieg responded, and there was further back-and-forth between the two candidates.
After posting her tweet about “class warfare,” Lynch got some blowback. While the actress’ tweet has received more than 59,000 “likes” and 7,400 retweets as of publication, it also boasts approximately 21,000 comments, an overwhelming number of which are very critical.
This reminds me of Marie Antoinette—but a modern version where you say let them drink wine in wine caves when they toil cleaning up after the mess you leave behind as plumbers in your bathroom. One billionaire shouldn’t have more say than all the plumbers in the whole country.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) December 20, 2019
This reminds me of Marie Antoinette—but a modern version where you say let them drink wine in wine caves when they toil cleaning up after the mess you leave behind as plumbers in your bathroom. One billionaire shouldn’t have more say than all the plumbers in the whole country.
Whew.
Really wishing you had chosen not to comment.
Love your acting but this is a garbage take that completely misses the point and minimizes the corrupting influence of money in politics.
Class warfare is a constant. And 99% of us are its casualties. THAT’S what’s “ugly.”
— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) December 20, 2019
Whew. Really wishing you had chosen not to comment. Love your acting but this is a garbage take that completely misses the point and minimizes the corrupting influence of money in politics. Class warfare is a constant. And 99% of us are its casualties. THAT’S what’s “ugly.”
Yes, “class warfare” is quite ugly.
And the ultra-rich should stop fighting the war.
— Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) December 20, 2019
Warren would not disagree with you. The problem is—which is clear when Warren talked about it—that billionaires in wine caves have *substantially* more say in the process than waitresses and plumbers. Yes, “class warfare” is quite ugly. And the ultra-rich should stop fighting the war.
When waitresses & plumbers can buy access to people running for president, then we can discuss how class warfare is unfair to the wealthy.
— 𝐝𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐧𝐢𝐜 (@disco_socialist) December 20, 2019
When waitresses & plumbers can buy access to people running for president, then we can discuss how class warfare is unfair to the wealthy.
do you, a functioning adult, actually believe that billionaires and waitresses currently have equal power to choose their elected officials?
— Natalie Shure (@nataliesurely) December 20, 2019
Do you, a functioning adult, actually believe that billionaires and waitresses currently have equal power to choose their elected officials?
Lynch has tweeted again about the “wine cave,” writing: “And the dying embers of what was the wine cave meme is gently blown back to life.”
According to Open Secrets, in March 2019, Lynch donated $2,500 dollars to the Buttigieg campaign. The actress has also expressed support for more moderate Democrats, recently tweeting that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was “presidential.”
On Friday, Lynch retweeted screenwriter Matt Oswalt, who wrote: “Let’s just vote for Amy Klobuchar and be done with it. A stable, intelligent, thoughtful, slightly boring president who doesn’t live on social media is just what this country needs. And I find the whole ‘eating salad with a comb’ thing kinda sexy #demdebate.”
Cosign oh so full heartedly! @amyklobuchar https://t.co/3RIfSs2ImS
— Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) December 20, 2019
Lynch wrote above the retweet: “Cosign oh so full heartedly!”