'Confidence trick': Internet calls out Trump over unverified $50 million fundraising night

Donald Trump, Lauren Boebert, Tim Scott, and numerous media outlets are among those who have parroted the line that Donald Trump raised $50 million at a one-night fundraiser, but not everyone is convinced it's true.

Trump made the claim himself on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. And on Sunday, he shared a Breitbart article with the title, "Trump Smashes Biden’s Fundraising Record with $50 Million Saturday Night Haul."

But that number has yet to be verified by independent sources, as Rolling Stone's report noted.

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That Sunday report also made another note to its readers: "[R]eminder: a court found that Trump committed fraud by lying about his net worth."

Conservative Army Iraq War Veteran Peter Henlein was one of the individuals who questioned the total on his social media.

"I’m seeing lots of skepticism about Trump’s $50 million fundraising night. That’s crazy," he said Saturday. "Trump would never exaggerate or lie about money stuff, and with Lara Trump running the RNC, there is now an extra set of eyes making sure all messaging on any joint fundraising is honest."

On Sunday, Henlein doubled down on the criticism:

"The one night $50 Million fundraising total that Trump’s people keep touting is a confidence trick meant to fool people into thinking fundraising is going well (it isn’t) and to distract them from the fact that the money that is coming in isn’t being spent on winning elections," he wrote. "If people think fundraising is awesome, they won’t object as much to massive sums being spent on Trump’s personal expenses. It’ll be months until FEC numbers are released that show the whole thing was BS, and by then it will be forgotten."

A popular user on X, Piyush Mittal, also chimed in on the topic:

"Some guys keep big guns. Some guys keep big trucks. Some guys keep many women. Trump lies about big crowds and big fundraisers. $50.5 million? Come on man," he said Saturday.

Cheri Jacobus, a former Republican operative turned Never Trump activist, called out CNN's headline, "Trump campaign announces record $50.5 million haul at Florida fundraiser," with a popular quote.

"If someone says it's raining, and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both," she quoted on Sunday. "Your job is to look out the fucking window and find out which is true."