President Donald Trump’s $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization fund” is even more disliked among voters than previously known, according to new internal GOP polling that has circulated among prominent GOP organizations “in recent days,” sending several Republican operatives into an all-out panic, Zeteo reported Wednesday.
“This could really f--- us,” a “well-connected national GOP consultant” told Zeteo, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Why do you think everyone’s so upset?”
The “anti-weaponization fund” was established after Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded settlement, the money of which would be paid out to those who claim to have been unfairly targeted by the Biden administration’s Justice Department.
The fund – which violent Jan. 6 Capitol rioters convicted of assaulting police officers would be eligible to receive payments from – had triggered an unprecedented revolt among GOP lawmakers, and according to the internal polling revealed to Zeteo by "multiple sources,” it's also deeply unpopular among voters, and to such an extent that it could do real harm to Republicans’ electoral prospects.
“Far too many Americans now view President Trump as corrupt, and that is going to be a significant hurdle for Republicans this year at a time when the voters want to be hearing about how you are making life easier and cheaper for them or how you’re making the country safe – not about a f------ ballroom,” said a former Trump administration official familiar with the internal polling, speaking with Zeteo on the condition of anonymity.
“This fund business just adds to that perception. And Donald Trump isn’t the one whose name is on the ballot this year, so he’s not going to be the one who really loses from his decisions or rhetoric.”
Despite Trump’s claim that he “wasn’t involved” in the creation of the controversial fund, he was, in fact, “deeply involved,” as Zeteo has previously documented.