During the “Fitness To Be President” portion of the third presidential debate, The Clinton Foundation was brought up, with Donald Trump using it as a strike against Hillary Clinton‘s candidacy. Despite Clinton’s assertions that 90% of the money coming into the foundation was used on aid projects, Trump decided to go all in on the rumors of foreign donations of a less than savory nature and “pay to play.”
“It is a criminal enterprise. Saudi Arabia giving $25 million. Qatar, all of these countries. You want to talk about women’s rights? So, these are people that push gays off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money. So, I’d like to ask you right now, why don’t you give back the money that you’ve taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people horribly? Why don’t you give back the money. I think it would be a great gesture.”
Clinton countered by claiming that The Clinton Foundation had been vetted and awarded the highest rating by group that monitor the soundness of charities. She also cited The Trump Foundation’s questionable spending patterns, bringing up the 6-foot painting of himself that was commissioned with donations with an incredulous “Who does that?” Despite Trump’s protestations that 100% of the Trump Foundation’s money went to charitable causes, Clinton shut him down in a hurry by asking “Wasn’t some of the money used to pay for your lawsuits?”