03-12-2022, 09:09 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/20...st-winner/
Former president Donald Trump’s political group sent at least 15 emails in recent weeks offering small-dollar donors the chance to win a coveted prize if they gave money: dinner with Trump in New Orleans last Saturday.
“We booked you a plane ticket,” one of the pitches said, complete with a photo of Trump superimposed in the French Quarter, beneath the dangling trademark ferns. “Contribute ANY AMOUNT RIGHT NOW to be automatically entered to have dinner with President Trump in New Orleans.”
Another pitch promised a full suite of perks. “We’ll cover your flight. We’ll cover your very nice hotel. We’ll cover your dinner,” the email promised, along with a picture with Trump. “All you have to do is enter.”
A third pitch said: “He REALLY wants to meet you, Friend, which is why he’s holding (1) spot on the entry list for YOU only.” Some of the emails came from an account labeled “Dinner with Trump” that was set up by the former president’s leadership PAC, Save America.
But no such winner was flown to New Orleans last weekend, according to four people familiar with the matter. No flight or “very nice” hotel was booked. Trump had no individual meeting with a small-dollar donor, instead only privately greeting a handful of Republican Party donors who gave large checks, taking pictures with some of the party’s most well-heeled members and speaking to a larger group of donors who each gave tens of thousands of dollars.
The email pitches probably raised a sizable sum for Save America. Some similar contests to meet Trump have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to people involved.
“President Trump has awarded more than 100 prizes to contest winners across America, but due to an administrative error in this individual circumstance, the contest winner was not properly notified for last weekend’s event in New Orleans. Consistent with the rules of the sweepstakes, a substitute prize will be awarded to the winner,” Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said Friday, when asked why no winner was chosen.
He did not say what the substitute prize was, but the fine print of the contest rules say the organization can substitute a prize of “greater or equal value.”
The Washington Post asked Save America to provide winners for other contests it has held, which included meeting the president at a rally in South Carolina this weekend, meeting Trump at his palatial Florida club last year, playing golf with Trump and Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker in Palm Beach, or receiving commemorative memorabilia — such as a football signed by Trump and Walker, a College Football Hall of Famer.
The PAC declined to comment, but said it had selected “more than 100” winners in the past, and some Trump advisers say they have met winners at previous events. Some winners have been publicly identified in news stories.
A few minutes ago Trump put out a new statement:
Trump now says there will be a dinner for the winner: "A winner from Save America PAC WAS chosen for dinner and that winner, and family, will soon be coming to Palm Beach, Florida."
Former president Donald Trump’s political group sent at least 15 emails in recent weeks offering small-dollar donors the chance to win a coveted prize if they gave money: dinner with Trump in New Orleans last Saturday.
“We booked you a plane ticket,” one of the pitches said, complete with a photo of Trump superimposed in the French Quarter, beneath the dangling trademark ferns. “Contribute ANY AMOUNT RIGHT NOW to be automatically entered to have dinner with President Trump in New Orleans.”
Another pitch promised a full suite of perks. “We’ll cover your flight. We’ll cover your very nice hotel. We’ll cover your dinner,” the email promised, along with a picture with Trump. “All you have to do is enter.”
A third pitch said: “He REALLY wants to meet you, Friend, which is why he’s holding (1) spot on the entry list for YOU only.” Some of the emails came from an account labeled “Dinner with Trump” that was set up by the former president’s leadership PAC, Save America.
But no such winner was flown to New Orleans last weekend, according to four people familiar with the matter. No flight or “very nice” hotel was booked. Trump had no individual meeting with a small-dollar donor, instead only privately greeting a handful of Republican Party donors who gave large checks, taking pictures with some of the party’s most well-heeled members and speaking to a larger group of donors who each gave tens of thousands of dollars.
The email pitches probably raised a sizable sum for Save America. Some similar contests to meet Trump have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to people involved.
“President Trump has awarded more than 100 prizes to contest winners across America, but due to an administrative error in this individual circumstance, the contest winner was not properly notified for last weekend’s event in New Orleans. Consistent with the rules of the sweepstakes, a substitute prize will be awarded to the winner,” Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said Friday, when asked why no winner was chosen.
He did not say what the substitute prize was, but the fine print of the contest rules say the organization can substitute a prize of “greater or equal value.”
The Washington Post asked Save America to provide winners for other contests it has held, which included meeting the president at a rally in South Carolina this weekend, meeting Trump at his palatial Florida club last year, playing golf with Trump and Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker in Palm Beach, or receiving commemorative memorabilia — such as a football signed by Trump and Walker, a College Football Hall of Famer.
The PAC declined to comment, but said it had selected “more than 100” winners in the past, and some Trump advisers say they have met winners at previous events. Some winners have been publicly identified in news stories.
A few minutes ago Trump put out a new statement:
Trump now says there will be a dinner for the winner: "A winner from Save America PAC WAS chosen for dinner and that winner, and family, will soon be coming to Palm Beach, Florida."
miley-laughing001:
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