DAVENPORT, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doled out Saturday the first of the $6 million he helped raise this week as part of his event rivaling Thursday’s GOP debate.
Trump handed out a $100,000 check to the Puppy Jake Foundation during the last of his three events in eastern Iowa. The foundation helps train and place service dogs that aid wounded veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The foundation received word on Friday that they would be one of 22 organizations to receive a donation from the GOP front-runner, who led Sen. Ted Cruz, 28-23 percent in a new Des Moines Register poll released just before the event.
The real estate mogul, who was joined by members of the foundation and service dogs on stage, held the event with Jerry Falwell, Jr.
“It’s unbelievable to me — a presidential candidate on the campaign trail giving money away,” Falwell told the crowd, echoing the real estate tycoon’s claim that he cannot “be bought.”
Falwell, the president of Liberty University, endorsed Trump earlier in the week. Trump spoke at a convocation at the faith-based school in early January, and infamously referred to a Bible chapter as “Two Corinthians.”
Trump is set to hold two more events on Sunday in Council Bluffs and Sioux City before caucus day.
