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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – “Trump needs you,” implored a fundraising email.
“The legacy of President Trump is in your hands,” pleaded another.
Others announced “Miss Me Yet?” T-shirts with the smiley face of Donald Trump.
While some Republicans wonder how fiercely to kiss the former president, the organizations tasked with raising funds for the party are doing all they can. midterm elections next year, when the GOP hopes to regain control of at least one chamber of Congress.
But there is a problem: Trump himself. In his first speech since leaving, the former president encouraged loyalists to give directly to him, essentially bypassing traditional groups that fundraise for GOP candidates.
“There is only one way to contribute to our efforts to elect conservative Republican ‘America First’ and, in turn, to make America great again,” Trump said at the annual conference on Sunday. conservative political activist in Orlando, Florida. “And that’s through Save America PAC and donaldjtrump.com.”
The comment was particularly noteworthy as Trump is generally loath to ask for money in person. This amounts to the final salvo in the battle to shape the future of the GOP, with Trump making it clear that he has no allegiance to the party’s traditional fundraising operation as he attempts to consolidate power.
This could help him add to an already imposing war chest, aiding his efforts to influence the party. Save America has more than $ 80 million in cash, including $ 3 million raised after the CPAC speech, according to a person familiar with the total.
Some of that money could help Trump settle scores with the outgoing members of Congress who crossed paths with him. In his speech on Sunday, Trump read aloud the names of all Republicans who voted against him and called for their defeat. He has already endorsed a Republican challenger to GOP Representative Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot.
“Trump’s call to donate directly to him shows that normal party organs … are going to have to fight for their relevance in the 2022 cycle,” said Dan Eberhart, a longtime Republican donor who has donated large sums of money. to the three as well as to the Trump campaign.
Bill Palatucci, a member of the RNC from New Jersey, called Trump’s comments “undesirable” and “counterproductive” and expressed concern that the GOP would suffer further losses, such as the Senate second-round elections in Georgia in January, if they don’t work together.
“Listen, this is a free country. Anyone can form a federal PAC or a super PAC and there is always a lot of competition for dollars. But crossing the line there is also telling people not to give to important National Party committees, ”said Palatucci. “The former president must be willing to look beyond his own interests.”
The RNC and spokespersons for the House and Senate campaign committees declined to comment. But others have sought to minimize the apparent tensions. They noted, for example, that Trump is expected to speak at the RNC’s spring donor retreat – a major fundraising source – in April in Palm Beach.
And Trump has told party chair Ronna McDaniel in recent days that he wants to continue fundraising for the RNC, according to a person briefed on the conversation who, like others, spoke under the guise of anonymity to disclose private conversations.
Before presenting their money on Sunday, Trump’s team quietly updated their fundraising records. They converted his Save America leadership PAC into an entity that can support other candidates as well, and transformed his lead Donald J. Trump for the presidential campaign committee into Make America Great Again, or MAGAPac. Money raised through Trump’s website now goes to Save America JFC, a joint fundraising deal between the two.
While Trump has stepped down as a deeply unpopular figure, there remains a strong appeal to grassroots small dollar donors, a reality that has been very clear in fundraising calls over the past week.
In a single hour last Thursday, the RNC, the GOP congressional campaign committees and the Republican State Executive Committee, which tries to elect Republicans to state posts, lambasted supporters with urgent fundraising appeals including urgent references to Trump.
And the Republican National Senate Committee warned this week that its “limited edition” t-shirts featuring Trump were nearly sold out.
Regardless of Trump’s next move, the GOP is unlikely to remove him from its sales pitch anytime soon.
“Our digital fundraising strategy is simple: raise as much money as possible,” said Andrew Romeo, spokesperson for RSLC.
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