With early voting about to begin in competitive midterm races, President Donald Trump has kept most of his super PAC money on the sidelines, causing Republican leaders to conclude that it’s too late to fully deploy the cash in the midterms and that he intends to hold on to much of it for his own purposes.
I’m reading about the first-ever Republican midterm convention to be held in Dallas next week. There’s a Wall Street Journal headline about it that mentions “Trump fatigue.” I don’t subscribe, unfortunately. But I found this by Lisa Needham at Daily Kos:
According to the Wall Street Journal, photos with Trump during the convention will cost $88,600, a number that seems weirdly arbitrary until you realize that $44,300 is the current Federal Election Commission contribution limit for donations to national party committees.
So, presumably, half would go to the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the other half would go to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
But that hefty sum is a bargain compared to what you’d pay for the “roundtable” with Trump on the first night of the convention, Sept. 9. That will run you $250,000, as Trump continues to creepily conflate his existence with the 250th birthday of our nation.
Who wouldn’t want to pay a quarter of a million dollars to hear Trump rant about how schools are forcing our children to be transgender, that he has already won the war in Iran eleventy times, and that the economy is terrific?
If Trump plans to televise the roundtable on September 9, he’ll be competing against the first NFL game of the season on ESPN. The Seattle Seahawks will be hosting the New England Patriots. Check your local listings for time.
I assume Trump chose Texas to give Ken Paxton a boost in the race for Senate. But if Trump is so all-fired concerned about Republican election campaigns, why is he sitting on millions of dollars of Super Pac money? See Republicans fear Trump will keep super PAC money and not spend on the midterms at WaPo.
Trump’s political advisers have been assuring anxious allies that MAGA Inc., the president’s super PAC that had more than $400 million on hand as of July 31, will come to the rescue during the peak campaign season after Labor Day. But Republicans are increasingly skeptical andsuspicious that Trump — who must personally approve the spending — has other ideas.
Of course he has other ideas. They may not be legal, but he has them. And Republican candidates had better not count on getting any of that “photos with Trump” money, either.
It’s all about the grift. I was remembering back in 2017 when Rachel Maddow was pointing out that Trump collected a whole lot more money for his inauguration than he could possibly have spent. Where that extra money went was never uncovered. During Covid we went through a phase orchestrated by Jared Kushner in which the Regime appeared to be engaged in profiteering with medical supplies. I don’t think anyone ever got to the bottom of what was going on with that.
In Trump 2.0, after the January 3 military raid that deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. in effect was in control of Venezuela’s oil industry. What happened with that? See the Council of Foreign Relations, The U.S. Took Over Venezuela’s Oil Industry. Where Has All the Money Gone? Something slick (ahem) seems to have gone on with oil and money and Trump, but it’s hard to say what. And of course all kinds of special interests have learned that donating to Trump’s pet projects, like the Marie Antoinette ballroom, is key to winning Trump’s favor. Yet somehow a lot of tax money is going into that ballroom, too. Hmm. One wonders if the donations to the ballroom are going somewhere else.
So the new scam seems to be raising money for Republican candidates that somehow isn’t getting spent on Republican candidates. Because Trump has other ideas. I read somewhere today that some donors have stopped giving to Trump’s Super Pac because they can see the money isn’t getting spent. And as Trump gets closer to the end of his term the easy money is likely to dry up. No point bribing a lame duck. Trump’s got to rake in all the money he can now.
Still, even Trump ought to be able to recognize that if Republicans do badly in the midterms he’s likely to be leashed. Do see Donald Trump is acting like he *wants* to lose the midterms by G. Elliott Morris and David Nir at Strength in Numbers.
I also understand that Elon Musk is throwing a lot of money into some key races. Leftie activists are organizing around the battle cry “Don’t let Musk steal this election.” And don’t forget his debacle in Wisconsin.
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I want to thank everyone who donated to my fundraiser. I’ve gotten more than I asked for, and I’m not going to ask for any more. I am very grateful.
This week has been busy Yesterday I had my annual Medicare physical, which for some reason was exhausting. The most strenuous thing I had to do was pee in a cup, and yet I was just wiped out. Today my son came to help me with some things in my apartment. Tomorrow I have to go back to the dentist for more work, fortunately all pre-approved by the insurance company this time. But that will take up a big part of the day. So if I don’t post for a couple of days — and I’m not saying I won’t — I’m just getting some rest.
