Oh, So Carly Fiorina Is Just a Bad Person

An article published in Sunday’s Washington Post revealed Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina isn’t just a female candidate who doesn’t believe in allowing women to control their bodies, she is also a straight-up shitty person.

The piece tells, among other things, the story of Joe Shumate, a California pollster whom she called “an integral” member of her Senate campaign and “trusted advisor and friend,” who was found dead of a heart attack amidst pages of polling data a month before 2010 Election Day. After his death, she offered her “sincerest condolences” to his wife.

The Washington Post writes:

But records show that there was something that Fiorina did not offer his widow: Shumate’s last paycheck, for at least $30,000. It was one of more than 30 invoices, totaling about $500,000, that the multimillionaire didn’t settle — even as Fiorina reimbursed herself nearly $1.3 million she lent the campaign. She finally cleared most of the balance in January, a few months before announcing her run for president.

“Occasionally, I’d call and tell her she should pay them,” said Martin Wilson, Fiorina’s former campaign manager, who found Shumate after the pollster collapsed from a heart attack. “She just wouldn’t.”

The article goes on to demonstrate how Fiorina’s failed 2010 campaign was irresponsible with cash, reporting that a number of companies that provided services to the campaign were not reimbursed thousands of dollars. Some bills were settled shortly before she announced her presidential campaign. Others still haven’t been.

According to another article from Mother Jones, Fiorina owed nearly $500,000 to her 2010 staffers until late 2014, and many employees were unsure they would ever be paid.

While Fiorina’s current campaign refrained from commenting, her former operations director Jon Cross defended her, saying essentially that failed campaigns don’t need to pay their staff:

“People are just upset and angry and throwing her under the bus.,” he said. “If we didn’t win, why do you deserve to get paid? If you don’t succeed in business, you shouldn’t be the first one to step up and complain about getting paid.”

Now, reports indicate that the Koch brothers are considering donating serious money to Fiorina’s presidential campaign. Although if she doesn’t win, precedent would suggest that she is the only one who would ever see it.