Remember when Donald Trump dropped out of tonight’s Fox News debate and decided to hold a fundraiser for veterans instead? He set up a website to solicit these donations. Apparently though, the website actually redirects those donations to Donald Trump’s personal foundation, instead.
The conservative press is focusing on this detail, with The Federalist pointing out the disclaimer at the bottom of Trump’s donation form: “The Donald J Trump Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. An email confirmation with a summary of your donation will be sent to the email address provided above.” The Federalist also claims that those who contributed got an email that says this: “The Donald J Trump Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and acknowledges that no goods or services were provided to you in return for your contribution.”
The Weekly Standard picked up this story from The Federalist, adding that Trump only gave around $57,000 to veterans’ groups between 2009 to 2013. He’s given more to the Clinton Foundation.
In addition, CNN reports that three veterans’ groups said that they would not accept any donations from Trump, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Wounded Warrior Project, and VetVotes.org. IAVA’s CEO tweeted this yesterday.
If offered, @IAVA will decline donations from Trump's event. We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.
— Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@PaulRieckhoff) January 27, 2016
CNN quotes a VoteVets.org statement as saying, “Don’t hide from Megyn Kelly behind us.”
(via Federalist, Weekly Standard and CNN)