President Donald Trump billed his first-ever Republican midterm convention as a historic, can't-miss spectacle, but inside the party, some strategists are calling it a "s-- show."
The two-day gathering, set for Sept. 9-10 at Dallas's American Airlines Center, has become a headache for Republicans who don't see the point, and don't want to pay for it, according to Puck's Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor.
Their reporting detailed a steep tab for lawmakers, as the National Republican Campaign Committee is asking House members to fork over $25,000 to bring themselves and a guest, three people who saw the invitation told Puck.
And that's just the entry-level rate.
The top tier runs $100,000. Corporate sponsorships, meanwhile, are being routed through a nonprofit that isn't required to name its donors.
Unlike a presidential nominating convention, no official party business will be conducted. The RNC rewrote its rules in January to allow a purely ceremonial event. That, combined with invitations that landed only weeks ago, after many lawmakers had already booked their fall calendars, has left some operatives fuming that it amounts to a glorified fundraiser built around a Trump rally.
"It's yet another opportunity to shake down corporate America," one Republican strategist told Puck.
Another questioned the entire premise, saying nobody grasps why the party is staging a midterm convention in the first place when some swing-district members would rather not remind voters of their ties to the historically unpopular president.
The event wraps just before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, to boot, providing an awkward backdrop for images of lawmakers celebrating with the party's biggest donors.
