Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused the Republican National Committee of issuing an unauthorized fundraising message that uses his name.
“The RNC, which is probably not on my side, just illegally put out a fundraising notice saying ‘Trump wants you to contribute to the RNC,'” Trump’s campaign said in a press release. “The RNC does not treat me well and then they use my name, without my knowledge, to raise money for themselves. At my insistence, they have withdrawn their request. I am self-funding my campaign and this totally unauthorized notice is yet another example of deceptive Washington tricks used to take advantage of the voters and get money from the hard-working people the politicians have failed. I will not stand for it and neither should you.”
Trump also took to Twitter and Facebook to criticize the RNC.
“@wino911: #Trump2016 We know better than to trust the RNC pic.twitter.com/EMcgtK25fE” So cute!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2016
A screen shot of the “Get on Trump’s List,” is included in Trump’s Facebook post. “Before Donald Trump takes the stage in tonight’s debate, this is your chance to show him he has your support,” the supposed fundraising message reads. “If you put your name on his list of active Party supporters, he will proudly see your name next to the amount you chose to donate to the nominee’s war chest.”
An RNC official told the Washington Examiner that the fundraising notice came from a straw poll, where once a person votes, it asks the individual to make a contribution.
“The straw poll allows supporters of all the candidates to help contribute to the presidential trust that ensures our nominee has the $23 million of RNC funds to take on Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders,” the official said.
