Anti-spam measures halted a Trump campaign voter outreach program over the July Fourth holiday, leading to potential fundraising losses and concerns that a recurrence could stymie efforts to get voters to the polls on election day.
The campaign’s peer-to-peer texting program was forced offline over the holiday weekend after it sent out more than 1 million messages in a voter engagement trial run. President Trump’s reelection effort counts texting as one pillar of an aggressive voter-contact strategy.
The issue took five days to resolve, even while Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reached out to executives at major telecommunication companies on the campaign’s behalf.
“A campaign’s email and text messaging list are some of the most important assets they have in 2020,” GOP strategist Eric Wilson told Politico, adding that it was “really very concerning that such a significant issue happened and to see that it wasn’t resolved in a timely manner.”
People close to Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T said that third-party administrators were following guidance set by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and that there was no partisan intent.
A statement from CTIA said senders should include “clear opt-out language” and “prior consent” but did not address the Trump campaign’s effort specifically.
“We expect all senders — whether airlines, schools, banks or campaigns — to include clear opt-out language and gain prior consent before sending a text.”
“These simple steps help protect consumers from spam and maintain text messaging as a trusted medium for everyone,” it said.
The Trump campaign has been sued over complaints that it sent unsolicited text messages. A federal judge last month denied the campaign’s motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit brought in Minnesota.
