The failure of Donald Trump to raise money for the Republican Party because donors find him unpalatable is leaving the party millions of dollars short paying for next week’s convention.
In a desperate attempt to find the necessary funds, organizers of the Republican National Convention sent a plea to Las Vegas billionaire couple Sheldon and Miriam Adelson to cough up $6 million to cover the costs for the event.
As far back as January, there was speculation that Trump’s abrasive and confrontational style might alienate donors; but GOP honchos dismissed the concern as misguided. Politico reported at the end of January that Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said the party hadn’t seen any effect of a potential Trump or Cruz nomination; GOP convention spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski insisted, “We have seen a growing interest from both donors and media with regards to the 2016 Convention. Donors are certainly looking at the marketing opportunity a convention will provide, and this convention promises to be a great opportunity regardless of the nominee.”
But the letter to the Adelsons from the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee that Politico obtained had disturbing contents, revealing the names of over two dozen corporations and individuals have reversed themselves on offering donations, resulting in a loss of what could have been $8.1 million in pledged donations.
The letter states, “Over the past couple months, negative publicity around our potential nominee resulted in a considerable number of pledges backing out from their commitments.”
Some of the donors who canceled their donations, according to the letter, include David Koch ($1 million), Coca-Cola ($1 million), United Health ($500,000), FedEx ($500,000), Pepsi ($500,000), Apple ($250,000), Visa ($100,000), and BP ($50,000). A company spokesman for Visa denied Visa had pledged any donation at all, asserting, “Visa has not made any pledges to sponsor either of the host committees in 2016.” a company spokeswoman said.
In the letter, the committee acknowledges that the $58 million the RNC has raised is $6 million short of what the city of Cleveland was promised to hold the event.
Over two dozen corporations and individuals have reversed themselves on offering donations, resulting in a loss of what could have been $8.1 million in pledged donations.
The July 12 letter begs, “We would greatly appreciate if you would consider a $6,000,000 contribution to the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee to help us cross the finish line. Your support will allow our community to meet its obligation to the RNC, and will ensure our Republican nominee has the best possible platform to lay out his conservative case for our nation. Thank you for your consideration and please let us know if you need any additional information.”
There have been rumors that Adelson, with an estimated net worth of $25 billion, might donate over $100 million to back Trump, which is what he gave Mitt Romney in 2012. Trump attacked Adelson last October for backing Marco Rubio, tweeting: