Trump suggests he will ‘suspend my campaign’ to seemingly dupe supporters out of cash
Text messages from Donald Trump's presidential campaign operation.
“ONE MILLION TRUE MAGA RESPONSES NEEDED,” the graphic said.
Trump proceeded to ask his “PRO-TRUMP PATRIOTS” to chip in before the Iowa caucuses began Monday evening, the first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest for the Republican Party.
Screenshot of text message from Trump campaign.
“The Hate America left thought I would’ve suspended my campaign by now, and at this very moment, we’re going to send them a message they’ll NEVER forget,” the message continued.
Trump, who is facing 91 felony counts across four separate criminal cases, said even the FBI’s raid of his Mar-a-Lago home, his mugshot from his booking in Fulton County, Ga. and states’ disqualification of him from their ballots due to his involvement in then Jan. 6 insurrection, couldn’t stop him.
It’s not the first time Trump’s fundraising tactics have been questioned.
In April U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith submitted a batch of subpoenas investigating whether Trump scammed donors with false claims about election fraud, The Washington Post reported. Smith scaled back his inquiry, withdrawing two of the subpoenas as of October, according to The Post.
Other Trump fundraising come-ons over the years have likewise been misleading or outright lies.
Emails from the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee — a joint fundraising vehicle involving Trump’s campaign committee and his Save America political action committee — continued streaming before the Iowa caucuses started.
One declared a forthcoming victory, asking for supporters for donations in the preselected amounts of $20.24 and $47 “IF YOU THINK DONALD J. TRUMP IS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME.”
Screenshot from Trump Winred fundraising site
With only 2 percent of votes reported, the Associated Press called Trump as the projected winner of the Iowa caucuses with about 55 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times.
His main remaining Republican challengers — former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — are neck-and-neck for second place as of 9:15 p.m. ET.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is in a distant fourth place with former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson barely registering, according to The New York Times.
Trump is the hands-down favorite to win the Republican nomination, setting up a rematch with President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election. Such an election is likely to involve several billion dollars in total presidential campaign spending.
"The people of Iowa sent a clear message tonight: Donald Trump will be the next Republican nominee for President. It's now time to make him the next President of the United States,” Alex Pfeiffer, communications director for Make America Great Again Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, said in an email statement.
Pfeiffer continued: “Joe Biden's team just announced a massive war chest. Every dollar spent by President Trump's primary losers is a dollar that could be fighting Joe Biden. Once the DC RINOs are finished crying in their cocktails over tonight's results, it's time for Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy to face reality and stop wasting time and resources.”
Trump’s own campaign committee did not respond to Raw Story’s questions about his fundraising messages.