Buttigieg 'wine cave' attendee offers reality check on event
One of the attendees at South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's now-infamous "wine cave" fundraiser in Napa Valley, California, wants Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to know what really went down.
Bill Wehrle, a vice president of a health-care company in San Francisco, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post about how the event was not full of billionaires drinking $900 dollars bottles of wine like in the image conjured up by Warren during last week's Democratic presidential debate.
Wehrle, who says he is neither a billionaire nor a millionaire, attended with his partner, a professor at a community college. Also in attendance, Wehrle said, were a dean from another local community college, a flight attendant, a local city councilwoman, and a college student. People asked Buttigieg questions about primary care for the uninsured, getting out of Afghanistan, and how he plans on combating hate speech. As for the wine? Wehrle said he looked up the price online — it wasn't paltry at $185 a bottle, but nothing close to the Warren-estimated $900 — and, from what he could see, the mayor didn't have a drop.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wehrle did concede there were certainly wealthy people at the event, but he dismissed the idea that the evening was an attempt by billionaires to join together to pick the next president. Read the full op-ed at The Washington Post.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
This winter head the call of these 7 spots for prime whale watching
The Week Recommends Make a splash in Maui, Mexico and Sri Lanka
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Major League Baseball's shaky future in Tampa
The Explainer New questions arise about a troubled franchise after Hurricane Milton wrecked the Trop
By David Faris Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump completes Cabinet selections
Speed Read The president-elect's latest picks include Scott Bessent and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
Speed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam Bondi
Speed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom ban
Speed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published