Republican National Convention organizers have reportedly sent an urgent letter to Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, requesting $6 million to help cover a last-minute fundraising shortfall.
According to the letter, dated July 12 and obtained by Politico, the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee is out $8.1 million after dozens of high-profile individual and corporate donors have decided to withhold money that had previously been pledged. Reneging donors include Apple (which had reportedly pledged $250,000), United Health, FedEx, Pepsi ($500,000 each), Coca-Cola and David Koch ($1 million each).
The authors of the letter pin the unfortunate turn on presumptive nominee Donald Trump. “Over the past couple of months, negative publicity around our potential nominee resulted in a considerable number of pledges backing out from their commitments,” they write. The parts of the letter excerpted in Politico do not indicate whether would-be donors gave reason for their backing out.
Adelson, who turns 83 next month, is worth an estimated $26 billion, a fortune won through real estate, gambling, and technology ventures. An enormous and vocal Republican donor, Adelson is generally considered to be one of the driving forces behind the GOP’s backing of Israel. Adelson has yet to comment publicly on the letter and its request for financial help.
One company mentioned in the letter disputes its inclusion. Visa was cited as having pledged and then withdrawn a $100,000 donation. A company spokesperson claims the credit card giant has never had any plans to donate to either convention host committee.
The Republican Convention begins Monday, July 18 at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.
(via Politico & Times of Israel)