The hashtag, “#RefundWarren,” trended Monday night and Tuesday morning as supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) encouraged donors to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) presidential campaign to demand a refund through the Democrats’ online fundraising platform, ActBlue.
The move came in response to a report that Sanders told Warren, during a private meeting sometime in 2018, that a woman couldn’t become president. The Warren campaign was, initially, silent on the matter, refusing to refute the allegations. Later Monday night, however, Warren released a statement essentially confirming the story, but saying that Sanders told her a female candidate couldn’t beat President Donald Trump, not that a woman could never win the White House.
“Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed. I have no interest in discussing this private meeting any further because Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences on punditry,” Warren said in a statement. “I’m in this race to talk about what’s broken in this country and how to fix it—and that’s what I’m going to continue to do. I know Bernie is in the race for the same reason. We have been friends and allies in this fight for a long time, and I have no doubt we will continue to work together to defeat Donald Trump and put our government on the side of the people.”
That wasn’t enough for Sanders’ supporters, who accused Warren’s campaign of deliberately spreading false information, perhaps as part of the next round of back-and-forth between the two candidates who are vying for their share of the progressive vote ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Last week, Warren’s campaign responded forcefully to claims that Sanders volunteers were being instructed to call Warren the “candidate of the elite” by suggesting that Sanders was “trashing” her and playing dirty.
Monday night, Sanders supporters thrashed Warren on Twitter, excusing his behavior and claiming Warren had “revealed herself,” to use the words of one prominent progressive, as a “fake.”
Warren is “revealing herself as a fake, not so great politician, trying to use dirty below the belt cheap tactics to hurt a real public servant of the People like Bernie. Her shenanigans Ain’t gonna help boost her failing campaign. She’s just another politician,” musician Greg Cipes tweeted.
That was just the beginning, though, for Warren’s online troubles. Newsweek reports that “[s]ome Twitter users posted screenshots purporting to show ActBlue processing refunds of their donations to Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. Several screenshots of refund request emails appeared to show ActBlue stating that they were ‘currently experiencing high volumes.'”
One user, “On This I Am One” even shared a tutorial for Warren supporters who might be looking to get their money back, instructing donors to go to the “contact us” page and locate the “refund” option in a hidden drop-down menu.
Go to Act Blue dot com and find "Contact us" button, and select "Other" in drop down.
Type details of donation refund requested, specifically order #, and just say I'd like to refund this donation. They email to confirm 🙂 pic.twitter.com/HsbaVt9K7M
— On This I Am One (@OnThisIAm1) January 13, 2020
“It was not immediately clear how many Warren donor refunds ActBlue is processing or if the refunds were offset by higher donations,” Newsweek says.
Warren supporters didn’t take the attack sitting down. Some said on social media that the “#RefundWarren” campaign forced them to donate to the 2020 presidential contender’s campaign to counteract the deduction. Warren may have even come out ahead on the night.
Sanders denied the story to CNN, flatly.
“It is ludicrous to believe that at the same meeting where Elizabeth Warren told me she was going to run for president, I would tell her that a woman couldn’t win,” Sanders said in a statement. “It’s sad that, three weeks before the Iowa caucus and a year after that private conversation, staff who weren’t in the room are lying about what happened. What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could.”
“Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course!” he added, relishing the opportunity to take a jab at President Donald Trump. “After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016.”