President Trump’s reelection campaign was “surprised” by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s request that it and the Republican National Committee stop using former President Ronald Reagan’s likeness to raise money.
“It’s a curious situation, and we’re surprised they objected to this, and this is something that we had been doing with the campaign and the Republican National Committee,” Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, told Fox News during a Monday interview.
Murtaugh noted that Donald Trump Jr. had recently held a book-signing event to raise money for the foundation.
“And now, suddenly, they object to this for some reason,” Murtaugh mused. “But it is curious to note that the leader of the Reagan Foundation is also, in his day job, the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post. So it should not come as much of a surprise to anybody that the Washington Post wants to try to interfere with the president’s reelection campaign.”
The request by the Reagan Foundation came after the Trump Make America Great Again Committee reportedly sent out an email promising supporters two commemorative coins if they donate at least $45. The coins were supposed to include one featuring Trump’s face and one with Reagan’s likeness on it.
Trump also took aim at the request in a Sunday afternoon tweet after the news broke.
“So the Washington Post is running the Reagan Foundation, and RINO Paul Ryan is on the Board of Fox, which has been terrible. We will win anyway, even with the phony @FoxNews suppression polls (which have been seriously wrong for 5 years)!” he said.
So the Washington Post is running the Reagan Foundation, and RINO Paul Ryan is on the Board of Fox, which has been terrible. We will win anyway, even with the phony @FoxNews suppression polls (which have been seriously wrong for 5 years)! https://t.co/fOi3AROxuz
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2020
