Rep. Jason Chaffetz has seized on Rosie O’Donnell’s donation to a possible Democratic opponent for him in 2018 as a way to boost his own fundraising.
USA Today reports that O’Donnell maxed out a financial donation to Kathryn Allen, a Democrat who has filed to run against him in 2018. Chaffetz used that as a call for donors to rally to his own cause.
“Rosie O’Donnell, (yes, Rosie O’Donnell) just maxed out my Democrat opponent and is tweeting to all of her liberal followers to do the same,” Chaffetz said in a fundraising email. “I need your help to fight back.”
He wrote that the involvement of liberals like O’Donnell would lead to a campaign “unlike any other I’ve ever seen.”
“Because I’m not afraid to stand up to my opponents and speak the truth, I’ve become a target for the Democrats,” he said in the email. “They are tired of my no-nonsense attitude and are going to pour millions into Utah to see me defeated.”
Allen has raised more than $450,000 online since Chaffetz made some inflammatory comments to the media about Americans having to choose between health care and a new iPhone. Chaffetz ended the most recent reporting period with a little more than $400,000 in his campaign account.
