Trump Is Ripping Off His Own Supporters And I’m Okay With That

"I swear to all that is holy, I’m going to sell these people robot insurance and jetpacks made of beef. I’ll make a fortune."

by Bob Cesca

WASHINGTON, DC -- Like the last remaining Japanese soldier stranded on a desert island long after the end of World War II, Donald Trump continues to operate under the misapprehension that he still has a chance to win. Or at least that’s what he’s pretending to do. It’s difficult to know for sure what he’s thinking, but we know with considerable certainty that he’s still engaged in a cynical cash grab -- a cash grab that’s divorcing his fanboys from their wallets.

While he most definitely attempted to overturn the results of the election despite having zero evidence of fraud, I still believe his priority following Election Day has been to raise as much cash as possible while his disciples are still crushed over Joe Biden’s decisive victory. He's selling his Red Hats a stack of lies and nonsensical conspiracy theories about the election disguised as hope. In return, these badly deluded suckers are handing over their checking accounts to Trump's Save America PAC in the midst of a crushing recession.

The thing is -- they don’t know they’re giving their money to Trump’s PAC. As far as they know, the money’s going to Trump’s legal expenses as he continues to embarrass himself in court. Unless they read the fine print disclaimer at Trump’s website, they won’t know they’re basically inflating his personal slush fund, money that explicitly can’t be used for the lawsuits. Instead, all the money paid into Save America PAC will be used for his rallies and other dubious expenses.

As Salon's Igor Derysh reported, fundraising emails from the Trump campaign "claim that the money is for the 'Official Election Defense Fund,' [but] no such account exists. ... The fine print on the frenzied messages says the first $5,000 or first 75% of every donation greater than $5,000 goes to Save America, a new political action committee formed by the president in mid-November. The other 25% goes to the Republican National Committee." I wonder how many Red Hat suckers have given money to the PAC thinking it'd be spent on Trump's legal shenanigans. I'd wager most of them.

Candidates often use super-PAC money to finance lavish vacations and other personal expenses. Given that the Trump Foundation was shut down because the Trumps were self-dealing — using donations for personal items, including a painting of Trump — it's safe to assume the Trumps will dip into the PAC money to pay for … whatever the hell they want.

Making matters worse, Trump’s fundraising emails in support of Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are also soliciting money for Save America PAC -- only a small portion of the money raised through these emails is going to the RNC while the rest is going into Trump’s pocket, more or less.

Politico reported:

“We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!” he wrote in one recent text message. “I need YOU to secure a WIN in Georgia,” he said in another. “Help us WIN both Senate races in Georgia & STOP Socialist Dems,” he pleaded a few days later.

There’s just one hitch: Trump’s new political machine is pocketing most of the dough — and the campaigns of the Georgia senators competing in the Jan. 5 races aren’t getting a cent. 

The Republican Senatorial Committee and the RNC have both complained to the White House about the emails, but we can assume Trump won’t budge. The grift will never end as long as there’s a sucker born every minute.

It's important to emphasize that we're talking about chronological adults who believe the screechings of the world's most notorious con man, while also believing that literally everyone else in the country is lying to them. Think about that. It's like a cancer patient who's diagnosed by the world's most esteemed oncologists, but instead accepts the word of a comment troll while accusing the experts of being the real crooks.

Oh, and by the way, remember Melissa Carone from Dominion Voting Systems, the firm that’s at the center of Trump’s fraud claims? A week or two ago, she popped up as a witness at a Michigan election hearing with Rudy Giuliani, appearing to either be drunk or just a moron. Saturday Night Live spoofed her hamfisted accusations shortly after. Well, the New York Times’ Kathy Gray reported that Carone wasn’t really a fulltime employee there, and she certainly wasn’t around long enough to know about alleged fraud on behalf of the company.

Gray wrote that Carone was hired as a temp, and she only worked there for one day -- to clean the glass on the vote tabulation machines. She knew nothing about the technical operations of the hardware, contrary to presenting herself as an expert and a legitimate whistleblower.

So, again, the Red Hats are fished in by another con-artist. There’s nothing quite like telegraphing to the world that you’re a gullible dupe who’s ready to empty his wallet at the first sign of charismatic confirmation bias. I swear to all that is holy, I’m going to sell these people robot insurance and jetpacks made of beef. I’ll make a fortune. 

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