"We don’t want his stinkin’ money,” said Michael Briggs, a spokesperson for Sanders’ campaign
Bernie Sanders has rejected a donation from Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, the Boston Globe reports.
The drug company increased the price of a life-saving treatment last month by an unthinkable and, for most, unaffordable amount. Daraprim, a treatment for malaria and toxoplasmosis, jumped from $13.50 to $750 a pill, an increase of well over 5,000%. Shkreli soon became the most hated man in America. Even Donald Trump called him a “spoiled brat.”
But he continues to stand by his action, calling it “a great thing for society.” He donated $2,700 to Sanders’ campaign, the maximum amount allowed by an individual. He admitted that his motivation for doing so was to get the senator’s attention so that he could set up a meeting to explain why the massive price raise is necessary.
Sanders has refused to meet with him, to which Shkreli responded: “He’ll take my money, but he won’t engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better.” Sanders, in fact, did not keep the money. Instead, he donated it to the Whitman-Walker health clinic in Washington, D.C., which specializes in HIV/AIDS care.
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com