On Thursday, writing for New York Magazine, Margaret Hartmann relentlessly roasted former President Donald Trump for his latest attempt to fundraise from his supporters — a necessity, as his official candidacy declaration locks off the funds to be used by his independent super PACs.
Specifically, Trump is now charging his supporters $40 a pop to buy a roll of "Let's Go Brandon" Christmas wrapping paper — the slogan being a popular coded phrase meaning "F**k Joe Biden."
"Following a protracted battle with my spam filter, a few months ago I finally started receiving the emails I signed up for at DonaldTrump.com," wrote Hartmann. "It has been a delight. Every few days I get a message with some bit of 'URGENT NEWS' from my 'favorite president.' On one very exciting week in early October, I got messages from both Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Regardless of which Trump is reaching out, the emails always end with a personal invitation to give them money, which I find very on-brand."
"Was I flattered to learn that Trump considers me one of his 'Best supporters,' despite the fact that I’ve never actually given him a dime? Sure," continued Hartmann. "But 40 DOLLARS for a single roll of 'Let’s Go Brandon' wrapping paper? I guess Trumps can afford to drop that much on rude wrapping paper, but I usually snatch up generic holiday gift wrap at HomeGoods for $3 a roll. To make matters worse, it’s not even cute or clever 'fuck the president' wrapping paper. For a donation of just $5 more, the National Republican Senatorial Committee will send me two rolls of this adorable paper featuring Trump in a Santa hat and the phrase 'Don’t Be a Snowflake.'"
"Etsy is filled with attractive, more affordable 'Brandon'-themed gift wrap, and a purchase there would support individual creators, not a political outfit embracing semi-fascism," concluded Hartmann. "I didn’t want to sour my new email relationship with the Trump family by bringing up politics, but the truth is I’m way more into this 'Merry Christmas From Dark Brandon' gift wrap."
Trump's methods of raising money from his supporters have frequently come under controversy. In March, The Washington Post reported that Trump advertised he was entering small-dollar donors into a sweepstakes to be flown out to have dinner with him in New Orleans, but never picked a winner. And last year, Trump ultimately was forced to refund millions in donations from people after it emerged he had been tricking donors into making one-time donations recurring with a deceptively hidden pre-filled checkbox on his website, causing many people to "give" far more than they had planned to.
