Money, money, money, money: it makes American politics go ’round.
Republican Party officials have created a way to substantially increase the amount wealthy donors can contribute toward re-electing Donald Trump in November to nearly $600,000 a year, reports the Washington Post.
“Under an agreement announced Wednesday by Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC), a single donor can give as much as $580,600 this year to support Trump’s reelection,” the Post says.
According to a Post analysis, the newspaper says, each of the RNC’s biggest donors “could end up having shelled out as much as $1.6 million to support Trump’s 2020 reelection over the course of the four-year election cycle.”
Some of those donors are publicly gloating about it.
“The ability to accept the mega MAGA check is another nail in the eventual Democratic nominee’s coffin — and it’s a big nail,” said Dan Eberhart, a prominent Trump donor. “When the Democrats finally settle on a nominee in July, the lucky candidate is going to be nipping at the heels of a giant mastiff.”
In a related development, former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle has been named finance committee chair of Trump Victory. The RNC believes Guilfoyle’s “star power” among Fox-watching Republicans will help draw contributors to fundraisers, big checks in hand.
A second joint fundraising group — the Trump Make America Great Again Committee — is also raising money, pushing the combined total for 2019 to an eye-opening $463 million, the Post says.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is raising money through a joint fundraising committee as well, with an even higher top donation level of $865,000 per year to the national and state parties.
“But … none of the current Democratic candidates can benefit from that fundraising” until one becomes the official nominee at the party’s national convention in July, the Post says.