Most people ignore the relentless string of text messages from political candidates and PACs throughout the election cycle, or perhaps give on one or two occasions and forget about it. But some people, often elderly, become pressured into giving thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars that they can't afford, reported the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.
"By around noon on a recent day, Sandra, 88, said she’d already received 125 text messages asking for donations to a campaign. More often than not, she ends up sending some money to the cause," reported Gabrielle LeMarr LeMee.
"Since the election cycle began in January 2023, she’s given an average of twelve times per day, typically around $20 each. That adds up to at least 8,300 individual donations."
Ultimately, Sandra, who moved to Orange County, California after previously working the polls in Texas, made $166,000 in contributions in the 2024 campaign — around half of which went to Donald Trump.
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Nor is Sandra's case unique. In October, CNN reported on how these same ads from the GOP convinced an 80-year-old dementia patient in Texas to blow his entire life savings on contributions, "eventually telling his son he believed he was part of a network of political operatives communicating with key Republican leaders."
Trump's texts to supporters were often dire, using language suggesting catastrophe if he didn't win.
But the problem isn't isolated to the GOP's side — Democratic voters were similarly bombarded with dozens of texts a day and, for a handful of people, the same result ensued. The Times report detailed Gary, 82, in New Mexico, who gave around $62,000 to Democratic campaigns.
“He thinks every time he gets an email, they’re directly contacting him,” said his daughter, noting that he would often tell her in a panic, “They’re telling me I have to. They’re telling me they think that I like Trump now.”
Indeed, in a satirical postmortem for the Kamala Harris campaign, Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post wondered if the problem was just not enough panic-ridden fundraising messages to supporters.
