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Delaney Slams DNC Debate Qualifications

June 4, 2019

Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney on Monday criticized the Democratic National Committee for the fundraising threshold that 2020 candidates have to reach in order to qualify for the third debate.

Delaney, a former Maryland Congressman, appeared on MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily, where fill-in host Steve Kornacki asked him about the new qualifications for the third presidential debate of the Democratic primary in the fall.

"The DNC is shifting the rules, shifting the requirements starting this fall. You're going to have to get two percent in four polls to get in the fall and you're going to have to 130,000 donors to get in the fall. Is that fair? Yes or no?" Kornacki said.

"I don't think we should have a donor standard. I absolutely don't think the Democratic Party should be about money," Delaney said. "50 percent of the American people can't afford basic necessities. I'm running actually for those people. A lot of those people probably aren't giving money to political candidates. I don't know why they are excluded from the process."

Kornacki followed up by asking Delaney what he thinks of the polling standard, prompting him to say he has no problem with the polling standard, saying, "You have to have a polling standard."

"Something like 10 percent of the American people have given money to political candidates, so why are they determining who's on the debate stage," Delaney said.

"The DNC announced Wednesday candidates will need a minimum of 2 percent support in four party-approved polls to be eligible for those third and fourth rounds. Campaigns also must have at least 130,000 unique donors in at least 20 different states, by the end of the summer," CBS reported.

Delaney expressed his concerns over the donor standards last week after they were released by the DNC.

"Right now we live in a country where half the people can't afford their basic necessities, like their rent, their food, their utilities," Delaney said. "I just don't understand why one of the criteria is this kind of money donor standard. The half of the American people that are having a hard time affording their basic necessities, it doesn't seem like they're probably contributing a lot of money to political campaigns."