John Schisel FACEBOOKAt a campaign stop in Westchester County, N.Y., on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton faced a question from a Greenpeace activist: Would she reject fossil fuel money in her campaign?
“I have money from people who work for fossil-fuel companies,” Mrs. Clinton responded. Pointing her finger, she added, “I am so sick — I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. I’m sick of it.”
The exchange was recorded on video, and quickly set off a dispute between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns.
Asked about Mrs. Clinton’s comments, Mr. Sanders stood his ground.
“The fact of the matter is Secretary Clinton has taken significant sums of money from the fossil fuel industry,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday. He later said that Mrs. Clinton should apologize for saying his campaign had lied.
We took a look at the numbers.
First of all, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has not received money from oil, gas or coal companies, because corporations cannot donate to candidates’ campaigns.
When it comes to people who work in the oil and gas industry, Mrs. Clinton has indeed raised more money than Mr. Sanders. She has collected about $308,000, compared to about $54,000 for Mr. Sanders, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks contributions by industry.
But that amount raised by Mrs. Clinton represents less than one-half of 1 percent of her total fund-raising that the Center for Responsive Politics was able to track to specific industries, and the oil and gas industry is not among the top 20 industries that have helped finance her campaign.
Nearly $9 of every $10 donated to presidential candidates in this election cycle from the oil and gas industry has gone to Republicans.
Campaigning in Wisconsin on Friday, Mr. Sanders cited an analysis by Greenpeace that took a broader look at financial support for Mrs. Clinton from the oil, gas and coal industries.
The organization said that a “super PAC” supporting Mrs. Clinton, for instance, had received $3.25 million from donors connected to the fossil fuel industry, though that represents a small piece of what outside groups have raised to support her presidential bid.
Greenpeace also looked at contributions to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign that were donated or bundled by lobbyists who represent the fossil fuel industry, which amounted to about $1.5 million, according to the organization. But that figure still is a small slice of Mrs. Clinton’s fundraising, and it includes lobbyists who represent clients in a range of industries in addition to fossil fuel companies.
— Thomas Kaplan