The modern Trump empire is built mostly around licensing Trump's name to midrange Asian hotels and overpriced Bibles. So why not do the same in politics?
As Trump struggles to close his own fundraising gap with Biden, his campaign sent out a letter this week asking down-ballot candidates for 5% of the proceeds when they use his name, image and likeness to raise money. https://t.co/NpHEA4s2hq
— POLITICO (@politico) April 17, 2024
Just think of it as protection against being loudly smeared by.......Donald Trump. It's worth every penny.
it's 5% to use his name, image or likeness, but it's 10% if you don't
If you donu''t visibly align with Trump, you're a no-good, America-hating RINO.
You don't have to pay it. Just stay away from toll booths, knowutimsayin...
What a piker he is, geez.
The man has no shame & can't be embarrassed - just enraged. Someone should have destroyed him by laughing long ago, because he's the closest we've got to the naked emperor.
But he sure seems to have learned a lot from Roy Cohn & the mob in NY, although openly announcing shakedown does seem new.
You're right but this kind of grift has been going on in politics for years. Consultants routinely buy and sell lists of voters and they take a cut of the money raised if they host a fundraiser.
Once Trump saw all this he wanted a piece of the action and now he's going to get it.
You gotta know who you are, right? And whoever you are, you aren't the Boss.
And you gotta show the Boss respect.
He’s never had an empire. It’s never been more than a mom and pop sized licensing gig. You can always tell the journalists that are just regurgitating when they call it that.
I’ve worked for companies of more than 100K employees, and those could qualify as empires.
His little 2-floor operation has always been nothing but hype.
Of course you're right. But certain word pairs work better than others. Saying he has a real estate empire sounds better tha real estate portfolio. That's like the term porn star. Most of the people who do pornography are not stars. They still call them porn stars, though.
We still call Trump a businessman.
At first I thought, "Well, sure. If his name and image have value, they should pay him."
But now I'm thinking, "If they're campaigning with his name and image, that's free advertising for him already. He should be paying *them*!"
Now that's truly thinking like a trump!
I thought you were supposed to tithe 10%...
And this is why I think we're all still waiting for their FEC filings to prove that his fundraiser at Mar a Lago actually broke records.
And if (when) it comes out that he lied about how much money they raised, do not let them get away with it. He has to be taken down publicly in full humiliation for lying about the constant need to lie about money.
Five percent? And yet, nearly every Democrat gets to use "His" image for free! Unfair!
Hilarious.
Don Fanucci wanting to get his beak wet, just a little.