Allah:
The best line comes after the AP notes that Trump’s fans are forever praising him for not letting sleazy fatcats buy influence with him via campaign contributions. Now that the sleaze tap has been turned on for the general election, the report continues, “It’s not clear how they will react.” It’s not? Has the AP ever interviewed a Trump supporter? They’ll react the way they react every time he undermines his own credibility, by ignoring it and reminding themselves that Trump is America’s unimpeachable national savior no matter what those filthy elites say.
He’s presenting this, naturally, as an act of selflessness on behalf of the party, not something he desperately needs to do because a competitive national campaign will run you 10 figures nowadays and even a billionaire doesn’t have cash like that lying around. In which case, a question: If he doesn’t need the money, why doesn’t he forfeit the donations that are earmarked for his campaign and let the RNC (and state party committees) keep all of it? That’s the least he could do to try to mitigate some of the down-ballot damage that’s expected this fall from his nomination.
Trump insists that his about-face from self-funded candidate to one who relies on donors is happening only at the request of the Republican National Committee.
“The RNC really wanted to do it, and I want to show good spirit,”Trump said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “‘Cause I was very happy to continue to go along the way I was.”…
For every check he solicits — and donors can give almost $450,000 apiece — the first $5,400 goes to Trump’s primary and general election campaign accounts. The rest is spread among the RNC and 11 state parties…
Asked by The AP if he sees a contradiction in asking for money after repeatedly saying he stood above the other candidates because he didn’t, Trump said, “No, because I’m raising money for the party.”
Trump also first denied to the AP that he is raising any money for the primary. Reminded of the terms of the fundraising agreement, he then said primary donations don’t really count because he already has defeated his GOP rivals.
His newest campaign rainmaker is Woody Johnson, a member of the Johnson & Johnson family empire and the owner of the New York Jets. If Johnson’s name sounds familiar, that’s because not only was he Jeb Bush’s finance chairman, he was name-checked repeatedly on the trail this spring by Trump himself as an example of the sort of special interest that would have financial leverage over Jeb if he was elected president.
