At a press conference today meant to call attention to the working conditions of employees of Wal-Mart, America’s largest private employer, Congressman Lacy Clay was asked about contributions he has accepted from the retailer.
At the conclusion of Clay’s speech, which slammed Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott for his company’s huge profits in the face of persistent poverty among his roughly 1.4 million employees, reporter Matt Sepic of local NPR affiliate KWMU asked Clay whether he would return nearly $7,000 in campaign donations from Wal-Mart’s political action committee.
“Not at all,” said Clay. “That’s the name of the game is raising money. I have dues to pay to my Democratic Party, about $150,000 a year. So wherever I can get that money to pay those dues, I will take it.”
Clay said even though he has accepted money from Wal-Mart, he has not voted how the company would have wanted him to on many issues in Congress.
“You have to have money to run effectively,” said Clay. “I’m going to take all the money I can get.”
Check back later for more exclusive video from today’s press conference…
