Donald Trump is so hard up for campaign cash, he's now sponging off down-ballot MAGA candidates, asking them for a percentage of their proceeds if they use his name or likeness while fundraising.
"Beginning tomorrow, we ask that all candidates and committees who choose to use President Trump's name, image, and likeness split a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC," said a letter that the Trump campaign sent out.
The letter also encouraged candidates to give more than 5% with a backhanded incentive: "Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President Trump's campaign and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations." In other words, the more you give, the more loyal you will seem in the eyes of Don Corleone, er, I mean Don Trump.
But the question is: Why in the hell would any candidate risk including Trump in their campaign fundraising efforts in the first place after what we saw in 2022? Are MAGA memories that short? Do they not remember the red wave that never was? The Trump cooties that, as NBC reported, "dragged down his party's candidates — nationally and in key swing states?" Are these candidates going to sully their campaigns for the orange buffoon again, and give them a cut of their fundraising dollars to boot? Only the most fearful of fools would fall for this menacing shakedown — which, I guess, covers about the entirety of the MAGA party.
From Politico:
The letter comes as Trump is struggling to close a fundraising gap with President Joe Biden. Biden's campaign has said that it has raised over $190 million, more than double what Trump has taken in. Trump's campaign has acknowledged that it will be outraised by Biden, though it has been looking to make up ground, with large and small donors alike. By asking Republican candidates to break off a chunk of their proceeds, the Trump campaign would enlarge its bank account.
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