Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund President Jenny Beth Martin blasted Donald Trump on Thursday, following reports that the Republican presidential front-runner is being advised by several Washington lobbyists.
According to Politico, Trump’s recently-hired top campaign strategist, Paul Manafort, has introduced several of his lobbyist friends to the campaign to help guide Trump to the general election with a better organization and delegate operation.
“Among the influence industry veterans who have been helping the campaign in recent weeks, according to sources close to the Trump campaign, are Laurance Gay, who had worked with Manafort on an effort to obtain a federal grant that one congressman called a ‘very smelly, sleazy business,’ and Doug Davenport, whose firm’s lobbying for an oppressive Southeast Asian regime became a liability for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign,” Politico reported Thursday.
In a statement released Thursday morning, Martin claimed Trump’s embrace of lobbyists renders him “a complete hypocrite” considering his opposition to special interest groups has become a focal point of his campaign.
“Double Dealin’ Donald Trump has revealed himself as a complete hypocrite who wants to make Washington lobbyists great again,” Martin said. “He presents himself as an outsider and has said ‘I don’t want lobbyists. I don’t want special interests,’ but now – when threatened by the growing momentum of the Cruz campaign – he has done a complete 180, sucking up to long time Washington lobbyists and entrusting them with his campaign.”
“First, [Trump] hired super lobbyist Paul Manafort to run his delegate operation and then turned over the entire campaign to him. Manafort ran the Republican convention for Bob Dole 20 years ago! Are you serious? Bob Dole?” Martin said.
“Now we learn Manafort has been stacking the Trump campaign with fellow DC influence peddlers who have represented hedge funds, worked to obtain ‘federal grants’ for special interests and advised dictators,” she said, adding that “this is just more proof that Double Dealin’ Donald Trump is little more than a hypocritical panderer who will say and do anything to get elected.”
As recently as Wednesday, Trump assured voters during a campaign rally in Indiana that he is self-funding his own campaign and will not be influenced by lobbyists or special interest groups if he’s elected president.
A spokeswoman for the billionaire’s campaign did not return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
