Between conservative luminaries abandoning his campaign over lewd comments made in 2005 and mistakenly telling supporters to vote three weeks late, Donald Trump isn’t having a great time. Especially since many of his newfound detractors are from within the Republican Party, against which Trump positioned himself following public disavowals by the likes of Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator John McCain, and other famous political faces. Hence a new report on Wednesday morning suggesting that several major GOP donors were furious with the Republican nominee and demanding full refunds for the tens of thousands of dollars they donated to his campaign.
According to NBC News, a bundler associated with the Trump campaign claims to have received at least two emails from major donors requesting refunds. Both the bundler and the two donors requested anonymity, but according to details provided by NBC News, the latter “have contributed or raised tens of thousands of dollars for Trump” combined. As for the bundler — a campaign fundraiser who typically uses their connections to raise money for candidates — he claims to have “raised close to $1 million for Trump.”
In emails from the two donors provided by the bundler, both referenced Trump’s leaked interview with Billy Bush and their having young children as part of their reasoning:
“I cannot express my disappointment enough regarding the recent events surrounding Mr. Trump,” one donor wrote to a Trump fundraiser in an email with the subject line “Trump support withdrawal.”
“I regret coming to the Trump support event, and in particular allowing my son to be a part of it,” the donor, who had given to and raised money for Trump, said. “I respectfully request that my money be refunded.”
“I can not (sic) support a sexist man. I have three young children and will not support a crude sexist man,” the second donor wrote. “I expect a refund of my donation. Please process immediately and I thank you for your help.”
Despite the leak’s most recent firestorm for the Trump campaign, Republican donors and naysayers have been coming out against the nominee for months. In August, several major GOP donors publicly condemned the New York real estate mogul by offering their financial assistance to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. More often than not, their reasons revolved around his politics (or lack thereof), though Trump’s shady campaign business practices were also turning supporters away in droves. Especially since, as more and more information about the campaign’s financial status leaked, it became apparent the Donald was self-dealing at unprecedented levels.
Whether or not the two donors cited by NBC News can or will get their money back remains to be seen. Despite CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond’s tweeted claims in August, Snopes discovered requesting and obtaining full or partial refunds from political campaign contributions wasn’t impossible. Though if said donations were set up to be recurring ones, problems could persist as the campaign hadn’t really set up anything to allow donors to cancel.
The bundler who spoke to NBC News didn’t say whether or not the two big donors would receive refunds, or how. Considering their donations to or money raised for Trump apparently weren’t set up directly with the campaign, however, perhaps they won’t face the same issues private donors who created recurring donations through the campaign website did. Maybe…
(Via NBC News)
