Former President Donald Trump is raiding Republican coffers with calls for GOP donors to direct all contributions to his new political group, threatening to leave key party committees financially strapped heading into the 2022 midterm elections.
Trump issued a statement Monday declaring “no more money for RINOs,” the abbreviation for “Republicans in Name Only,” and urged that all donations for Republican candidates be funneled through his political action committee: Save America. Particularly if heeded by the millions of grassroots donors the 45th president attracted to the GOP, the party’s House and Senate campaign arms could run short of crucial resources in their bid to recapture Congress from the Democrats.
“Everything we did the last four years was Trump, Trump, Trump,” said a Republican strategist and veteran operative of the party’s campaign committees. “If that’s taken away from us, it has the potential to be devastating.”
On Tuesday, Trump clarified his position, saying, “I fully support the Republican Party and important GOP Committees, but I do not support RINOs and fools, and it is not their right to use my likeness or image to raise funds. So much money is being raised and completely wasted by people that do not have the GOP’s best interests in mind.” Still, Trump never specifically endorsed contributing to Republican Party committees, reiterating to GOP donors that the best use of their investment was with him.
“If you donate to our Save America PAC at [DonaldJTrumpDOTcom,] you are helping the America First movement and doing it right. We will WIN, and we will WIN BIG! Our Country is being destroyed by the Democrats!” he said.
TRUMP FINDS HIS POST-TWITTER VOICE
Since Trump issued cease-and-desist letters demanding that Republican groups obtain his permission before using his likeness in fundraising appeals, much of the focus is on the potential impact on the Republican National Committee. The RNC raises the most money, funding the party’s critical voter turnout and data analytics operations. When Trump was president, he controlled the national party committee, as is the case whenever there is a Republican in the White House.
But there are two other GOP organs in Trump’s crosshairs that are especially pivotal in midterm elections: The National Republican Congressional Committee is focused exclusively on House races, the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Senate contests.
Both are likely to ignore Trump’s cease-and-desist letters, considering them a nuisance. Fundraising is another matter. The NRCC and NRSC are often forced to support a range of GOP candidates in their effort to cobble together congressional majorities across a diverse political terrain. They are as vulnerable as the RNC, if not more so, to Trump’s attempt to become the gatekeeper to Republican campaign cash and excommunicate candidates he deems insufficiently supportive of his agenda.
“They’re basically starting a Trump version of the Lincoln Project,” a former senior aide at one of the GOP congressional committees said, comparing Save America to the super PAC founded by Republican operatives opposed to the 45th president that is now under scrutiny for managerial impropriety. “Just like those Never Trumpers, they view themselves as ideologically pure — loyal to what the party should be.”
During a Feb. 28 speech in Orlando, Florida, to conclude this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump announced he would not break away from the Republican Party and launch a new ballot line to compete for votes. With at least a third of GOP voters saying in public opinion polls that they would follow Trump to a new party if he did so, top Republicans no doubt breathed a sigh of relief.
They might be breathing more heavily since then. Trump’s decision to stick around came with an implication: He wants to be in charge. “No more money for RINOs,” the former president said in a brief statement. “They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base — they will never lead us to Greatness. Send your donation to Save America PAC at [DonaldJTrumpDOTcom]. We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!”
Trump’s pitch is unlikely to concern many GOP voters. The former president is popular among self-described Republicans and voters who lean Republican, scoring an 81% favorable rating from them in a Morning Consult poll conducted for Politico. Many congressional Republicans are also probably fine with Trump’s approach. “President Trump is the leader of the conservative movement, he’s the leader of the America First movement, he’s the leader of the Republican Party,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said at CPAC.
Trump inspired a loyal base of grassroots Republicans since announcing his first campaign for president in June 2015, bringing millions of former Democrats and new voters into the GOP.
That support helped the former president build a lucrative list of individual donors who tend to contribute money in small sums online. Playing up their commitment to supporting Trump and his legislative agenda, the RNC, NRCC, and NRSC were able to grow their own email donor lists, although they did not rely solely on Trump. Still, invoking Trump’s name and his legacy in fundraising appeals still generates the most contributions.
If Trump sells grassroots donors on backing Save America PAC instead of funding the RNC, NRCC, and NRSC, the party’s strategy for winning back the majority in a narrowly divided Congress, a strategy that happens to include him, could be compromised by a lack of resources.
“They should be very concerned about that happening,” a former RNC staffer said.
Trump launched Save America PAC within days of the 2020 election. At the time, a campaign spokesman said Trump had planned to open a new organization to bolster his political efforts win or lose on Nov. 3. As of Dec. 31, Save America PAC reported $31.2 million in cash on hand in filings with the Federal Election Commission.
