Trump's Latest Fundraising Drive Kicks Off
Flogging for campaign cash on the hope of another indictment
Yesterday, Donald Trump launched another fundraising drive hoping to sucker more grandmas on a fixed income to donate to his legal defense fund presidential campaign by letting them know that he is going to be arrested any day now.
If it sounds familiar, we've been here before … more than once.
Trump posted a campaign statement on Truth Social on Tuesday saying that his lawyers received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith informing them that he is a "TARGET of the January 6 Grand Jury investigation" and has "a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means and Arrest and Indictment."
The “statement” from his campaign reads like the typical Trump fundraising email, complete with the ALL CAPS words, run-on sentences, bizarre capitalizations, and over-the-top histrionics.
Here’s the thing, though.
Prosecutors send these letters to the targets of a grand jury probe to give them a chance to testify before the panel, as is their right.
And as the New York Times reported in early March after Trump received a similar letter from District Attorney Alvin Bragg in Manhattan, defendants rarely take the prosecutor up on the offer.
I’m guessing that Trump’s lawyers will give the invite a pass, just as they did for the one sent by Bragg.
And can you blame them? Trump routinely walks himself into a noose every time he tries to defend himself.
But, see, the purpose of releasing this statement isn't to inform.
The purpose is to fan the flames of outrage so all of his loyal supporters, who by now have calmed down since the last indictment, can get good and angry all over again and send him money.
This is called “rage donating.” Yeah, there’s a term for it.
That's why the statement is a rambling diatribe listing all of the wrongs poor, victim Trump has endured at the hands of his enemies rather than a clear, concise, “here’s what’s going on” kind of statement.
Though, I admit, I laughed out loud when I read the opening paragraph:
WOW! On Sunday night, while I was with my family, having just arrived from the Turning Point event in Florida, where I won the Straw Poll against all other Republican candidates with 85.7%, with all polls showing me leading in the Republican Primary by very substantial numbers, almost everyone predicting that I will be the Republican Nominee for President, and as I am leading Democrat Joe Biden in the polls by a lot, HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country was given to me by my attorneys.
Yeah, that is the King Freak of Run-On Sentences, confirming without a doubt that "Art of the Deal" was ghostwritten.
That reads exactly like every one of Trump’s stupid "GIMME MONEY" emails that came at me like a hail of bullets two years ago. Sweet merciful Zeus, at one point, I was getting as many as twenty a day. If I hadn’t already soured on Trump in January 2021, the email bombardment would’ve been enough to turn my heart to stone.
Anyroad.
The whole "statement" reads like that first paragraph, and that's the point.
Trump's most loyal supporters react to these incomprehensible “statements” the way a cat reacts to a laser pointer.
No matter where his tangents veer, they're right there with him, eagerly soaking up the outrage while reaching for their credit cards.
It worked out great for him when he told his fans that Alvin Bragg was about to arrest him.
How much did he raise off of the Manhattan indictment? Seven million?
It was such a boon to his flaccid fundraising efforts that when Trump got indicted for the second time, he did it again.
Now he's hoping lightning will strike a third time.
You know, for a guy who turns tail and hides over a tornado watch, it’s a bit surprising that Trump’s such a fan of lightning.
But you can see why he’s willing to brave the storm. Nothing else seems to be bringing in the cash.
And while I can't comprehend this, I'm sure his ardent supporters saw Trump’s “HORRIFYING NEWS” and rushed straight to his campaign website to click the DONATE button.
Trump knows his supporters will think of nothing but rallying to his side.
He knows they will ignore the fact that his multiple indictments are turning off pretty much every other voter to the point that if he does somehow win the nomination, he will lose the General Election in a landslide.
He knows they are so blinded by love for him that they don’t care if the Democrats win in 2024.
In short, Trump is banking on his supporters abandoning America First and replacing it with Trump First, Last, and Always.
My one hope is that the Republican primary voters who have had enough of this clown show outnumber the suckers who continue to cling to Trump like a limpet.
Donald Trump is not the same candidate he was in 2016. He isn't even the same candidate he was in 2020 when he limped into the General Election mortally wounded by the media and the Democrats over his handling of the pandemic.
Now, he is the post-Stolen Election Trump whose endless tirades and outlandish conspiracy theories about the 2020 election turned off millions of Americans who voted for him in the past.
He is the twice-indicted primary candidate who can't be bothered to campaign for the nomination but never runs out of ways to sap his working-class supporters of their hard-earned money to pay his ever-expanding legal fees.
I just can't see any of that helping to expand Trump’s voter base beyond the die-hard loyalists who are willing to pay his bills while spending thousands more to travel to Florida so they can vote for him in the Turning Point straw poll.