Independent Trump Bags First Mega Donation from Disgraced Ex-Con Real Estate Mogul
Starting with his June announcement that he was seeking the 2016 Republican nomination for president, Donald Trump has been fond of reminding supporters, voters, the press – anyone who will listen, really – that he is rich. And although his campaign seemed at first to be a parade of events intended to drive that point home over and over again, Trump has used his personal wealth to stake a compelling political claim in the age of dark money: that his means make him independent from the interests and donors who ordinarily set the policy priorities and agendas in Washington, D.C. “I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich,” Trump said in June.
It’s a position Trump has sharpened into an attack. Last week at the Iowa State Fair he mocked former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for being a “puppet” to his donors. “He raises $100 million, so what does $100 million mean? $100 million means he's doing favors for so many people, it means lobbyists, it means special interests, it means donors,” Trump said.
Trump’s wealth, however, doesn’t mean that he’s refusing donations – large or small. And on Friday we learned that fundraising is also affecting Trump’s campaign schedule. After initially (and cautiously) denying that Trump had attended fundraisers for a pro-Trump political action committee called the “Make America Great Again” PAC, which was formed on July 1, Trump’s campaign disclosed that the candidate had in fact spoken for about fifteen minutes at one of the super PAC’s early events in July.
One of the larger donations that the super PAC has received so far has come from Charles and Seryl Kushner, the in-laws to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and the parents of her husband, New York Observer owner Jared Kushner. The Kushners gave $100,000 to the Make America Great Again super PAC in July.On Sunday, they took that support one step further by hosting Trump for a meet-and-greet on the candidate’s behalf at their seaside home on the New Jersey shore.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/trump-bags-first-mega-campaign-contribution-from-disgraced-ex-con
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