‘The Grift Is On, Baby’: Michael Steele Calls Out ‘Suckers’ Donating to Trump’s Recount Effort, Who Are Actually Funding His PAC
Former RNC chair Michael Steele called out the donors giving massive amounts of money to what President Donald Trump has billed as funding his recount efforts, but is, in fact, padding his post-presidential life.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s ReidOut, Steele warned Trump supporters that they were being played for “suckers,” as Trump relentlessly presses his donor list for cash. The president pivoted to his latest fundraising strategy just days after the election, when his “Make American Great Again” PAC began intensely contacting donors to raise money for something it called his “official election defense.” But in the fine print, the PAC divulged that half the money was actually going to pay down the campaign’s debt.
According to an analysis by the New York Times, the president has raised a staggering $170 million since Election Day, three quarters of it going to Trump’s new political action committee, Save America. That total, notably, is more than double his campaign’s best month of fundraising before the election, September 2020, when it pulled in $81 million.
Because of the relaxed rules around PAC expenditures, Trump can tap this money for nearly every kind of expense, from paying off the rest of his campaign’s debt to all manner of travel, staffing, and personal expenses. In addition, the president could funnel that money back into his properties by holding ostensibly post-White House political leadership events there.
Host Joy Reid noted that heading into the 2016 election, many inside Trump’s inner circle thought he had little chance of winning and that the campaign was merely a massive marketing exercise to enhance his personal brand.
“He’s been using his presidency to suck money out of foreign diplomats,” she added, before referencing an alarming newspaper ad that Michael Flynn endorsed that called for Trump to institute “limited martial law” while also pleading for contributions. “People with him are in on the scheme. Everyone howled Michael Flynn, calling for martial law to overthrow the election. It says ‘Contribute now!’ Right? You have Sidney Powell, her organization is doing these loopy, nutsy cuckoo lawsuits. Her organization directs donors to write checks payable to her law firm. It is all a scam, Michael.”
“I’m not going to argue with one bit of that,” Steele replied. “The great little dirty part of this is Donald Trump right now, Joy, is raising money at a faster rate to sort of — to steal the election than he did when he was trying to win the election. And that’s what people need to understand.”
“The grift is on, baby. It is just on,” Steele added. “You need to understand it. If anybody wants to be a sucker and send their dollar to Trump for his recount effort, y’all just suckers, because it ain’t going to no recount it’s going to his PAC. That PAC money, and this is important, allows him to go out and do political stuff unrelated to the recount. So he can hire staff. He can put expenses into airplane travel and all — he’s setting up how he’s going to pay for his post-presidential life at the taxpayer expense today.”
Steele then reiterated that all these tens of millions of dollars are never going to result in a change in the 2020 election, despite Trump’s desperate pleas to the contrary.
“It is going to set up Donald Trump Enterprises after Donald Trump leaves the White House,” Steele insisted. “He’s made it clear, as I said on your show before, he’s not going to inaugural. He’s not bringing the incoming president to the White House. None of that matters to him. Trust me, he goes to Florida at Christmas and you won’t see him in D.C. again. He’s just going to be collecting checks.”
“Amen,” Reid responded.
Watch the video above, via MSNBC.
