Perhaps the pairing of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, in the midst of a sex trafficking (with a minor) scandal, with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who believes in Jewish space lasers, isn't an ideal match for a political fundraising tour. At least not when it comes to their pocketbooks.
Not only did three California venues cancel on them at the last second, leaving them to perform their "Put America First" routine on the streets and the beach, but, according to the Daily Beast, it looks like they've spent four times more on their traveling duet than they've earned in fundraising dollars. Or, in dollar speak, they've bled a combined $342,000 working together, while donors have only contributed $59,345 and 54 cents.
From the Daily Beast:
At the height of the controversy surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and the revelations that he's under investigation for sex trafficking, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) bet big on a nationwide joint fundraising tour with her embattled colleague. But new campaign filings show that not only did the gamble not pay off, but that the much-maligned Republicans actually spent four times as much as they raised. …
Since Gaetz and Greene kicked off their joint fundraising committee with a May 7 event at The Villages in central Florida, their campaigns and joint fundraising committee have posted a combined loss of $342,000. And according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, that joint fundraising effort, "Put America First," reported only $59,345.54 in contributions.
Both Gaetz and Greene contributed $150,000 apiece from their own campaigns to the joint fundraising committee. And they've raised money almost entirely from small-dollar donors. Only four people gave $500 or more to the shared committee. But their campaign tour of some of the most Trump-friendly areas in the nation has been inordinately expensive.
