Newsom, Warren Face Criticism For Using ActBlue to Raise Fire Relief Funds

California Governor Gavin Newsom and other top Democrats are facing criticism for using the Democratic Party Political Action Committee (PAC) ActBlue to raise relief funds for California firefighters and fire victims.

Newsom: Newsom wrote on X on January 11, “A lot of misinformation out there. Just launched a new site to ensure the public has access to fact-based data around the Southern CA wildfires.” On the site, Newsom fact checked conservative media accounts like Fox News (Right bias) and Libs of TikTok and linked to a fundraiser run through ActBlue. Newsom's team told Fox that donations made would not be directed to the governor’s Campaign for Democracy PAC.

Warren: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also shared an ActBlue fire relief fundraising link on Saturday via X. The link redirected to a “Warren For Senate” page that sought donations for The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Pod Save America: Pod Save America (Left bias), a podcast hosted by former Obama administration officials, interviewed Newsom on Friday and shared a link to its own ActBlue fundraiser via X.

How The Media Covered It: Media from the right criticized the use of ActBlue for fundraising efforts as the platform collects a 3.95% fee on donations, and has contributed $16 billion to the Democrats since 2004. Fox News claimed The New York Post (Lean Right bias) reported that ActBlue waived the fees for fire donations, though The Post’s coverage did not reflect this. Rising by The Hill (Center bias) was the only Center source AllSides found to cover the story. AllSides did not find coverage from the Left.