President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Georgia meant to support Republican candidates in the U.S. Senate runoff races next month, but one author and prominent critic thinks that the president has a much more personal reason for going to the Peach State.
Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump were headed to Valdosta on Saturday to stump for candidates David Purdue and Kelly Loeffler, who both face critical races next month that could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. Both candidates are expected to join Trump at the 7 p.m. rally, with the event meant to boost support and turnout for the January voting.
Don Winslow, an author who has emerged as one of Trump’s top critics online, believes there is an ulterior motive for the president beyond helping the GOP. Winslow noted the big fundraising haul he has been pulling in the weeks since Election Day, saying he believes the president is more motivated by lining his own pockets than helping his party.
“Donald Trump has raised more than $200 million in the 30 days *AFTER* the election,” he tweeted .
“He gets to keep 75% of that. That is why he is going to Georgia. Period. Television coverage -> speech -> fraud claims -> raises $$$ By Jan 20 Trump will be close to paying off his $400m debt.”
As The Inquisitr reported, many have raised concerns about the vast sums that his campaign has pulled in since November 3. As the report noted, his campaign raised more than $200 million during that time, with most of it going to a political action committee that has much looser restrictions on spending.
Experts noted that this could allow him to spend the money on himself once he leaves the White House.
“It’ll be a slush fund,” Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance lawyer with the group Common Cause, told HuffPost .
“Trump could decide to pay himself $1 million a year out of this fund. That’s legal. He could pay [his children] Don Jr. and Ivanka, if he wanted to. It’s pretty clear that this is a classic bait-and-switch scheme.”
The visit to Georgia brings other complications for Trump. He has repeatedly claimed that he really won the presidential race and that Joe Biden benefitted from widespread fraud. This created an intra-party squabble in Georgia, where the Republican governor and secretary of state have pushed back against the claims, saying there was no evidence of fraud there and confirming that Biden won.
