Chicago Cubs Co-Owner To Head Trump Re-Election Fundraising
Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, was announced by the Republican National Committee (RNC) as the head of Donald Trump’s re-election fundraising team. Ricketts will take on the title of finance chairman of the Trump Victor Committee, which is a combined effort of the RNC and the Trump campaign.
Yahoo Finance says that Ronna Romney McDaniel, the GOP chairwoman, announced the party’s gratitude that Ricketts has taken over the position.
“The RNC is grateful for Todd’s leadership and I’m thrilled that he will play such an important role in @realDonaldTrump’s re-election in 2020!”
Ricketts released his own statement through the Chicago Sun-Times expressing how honored he is to be representing the Trump campaign.
“I am honored to continue to support President Trump and the Republican Party through the Trump Victory Committee. As we head toward 2020, I will work to ensure President Trump and his campaign have the resources they need to fight for the American people,” he said.
Todd Ricketts is the son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, and a longtime supporter of conservative causes. His brother, Pete, is the current governor of Nebraska, which added to the power that the family of billionaires wields in the Midwest. The Ricketts family purchased majority control of the Chicago Cubs’ MLB team in 2009.
Attention Chicago @Cubs fans: Tell your owner to stop supporting such a bigoted lying criminal. https://t.co/ixcsAcVo2D #Resist
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) February 1, 2019
Todd Ricketts took over as finance chair of the RNC in January 2018. Previously, he was in the running for the position of deputy commerce secretary for the Trump administration, but withdrew his name after realizing that he would have to divest from his personal financial holdings.
There is some irony about Todd Ricketts supporting the Trump re-election, as the Ricketts family was the target of a Trump Twitter attack back in 2016.
“I hear the Rickets family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $’s against me. They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!” Trump tweeted.
Initially, the Ricketts family supported Scott Walker for the Republican nomination, also making smaller donations to several other candidates, like Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham.
But not everyone is happy that Todd Ricketts is so tightly aligned with the Trump campaign. A number of people on Twitter are posting that they might be ready to make the switch from being a Cubs fan to following the White Sox.
“I think I just became a White Sox Fan.”
Others commented that they will still be Cubs fans, but they will do it at home as opposed to spending money to see the team in their home stadium.
