Billionaire liberal activist and Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is taking a week off the campaign trail for jury duty in his hometown of San Francisco.
He said he was glad to fulfill his civic duty and used the occasion to take a jab at President Trump.
“It is every American’s civic duty to serve on a jury with their peers,” he said in a statement. “At a time when Donald Trump is constantly undermining our legal norms, I can think of no stronger response to his criminal behavior than fulfilling my civic obligation.”
The one-week summons to serve on a jury for the city and county of San Francisco arrived a little more than a month into Mr. Steyer’s self-funded run.
Another Democratic hopeful, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, took a two-week hiatus from the campaign this month for an Army National Guard training exercise in Indonesia.
A longtime activist, Mr. Steyer previously founded the NextGen America environmental advocacy group and the Need to Impeach campaign to push for impeachment of Mr. Trump.
He has pledged to finance his campaign with at least $100 million of the fortune he made as a hedge fund manager. His big spending on TV ads and a social media campaign has already helped him climb in polls and gather small-dollar donors needed to qualify for the September debate in Houston.
He needs to register above 2% in one more poll before the end of the month to get onto the debate stage.
The candidates need at least 2% in four approved polls and at least 130,000 individual donors across 20 states to get on the debate stage in Houston.
Mr. Steyer missed the first two debates for the 2020 Democratic hopefuls in which 20 candidates participated.
The Democratic National Committee raised the bar to get into the third debate, and about half the two dozen candidates in the race are expected not to qualify.
The candidates now must meet both a polling and a donor threshold, instead of either, and each threshold is higher than it had been.
Candidates now need the 2% in the polls and 130,000 donors across 20 states, up from 1% in polls or 65,000 donors required for the first two debates.
So far, nine candidates appear to have made the cut: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California, Sen. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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