Chris Hayes Says Trump-RNC Fundraising Beef Fueled by ‘Neurosis’: He ‘Hates the Notion Anyone’s Making Money Off of Him’

Reed RichardsonMar 9th, 2021, 10:35 pm
 

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes weighed in on the ongoing beef between Donald Trump and several Republican party fundraising committees, noting the former president’s “neurosis” over those entities using his image to pull in donations.

Moderating a panel between former Trump biographer Tim O’Brien and Never-Trump Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, the MSNBC host dug into how Trump is actively monetizing his post-presidency — possibly at the expense of his own party’s campaign fundraising.

Over the past few days, Trump has engaged in a very public fight with the Republican party committees, firing a shot across the bow of the GOP over the weekend by sending a cease-and-desist letter over its use of his name and image in donor appeals. The GOP (indirectly) responded a day later, claiming that the former president himself had okayed the move. Trump wasted no time extending the beef, publicly exhorting his supporters to donate money directly to him rather than a GOP that might use the money to back “RINOs.” As an apparent peace offering, the RNC then announced that it was moving some of its spring fundraising to Trump’s country club, Mar-a-Lago.

As Hayes’ show went on air, the feud continued, as Trump and the GOP traded more statements, with the former president again — inaccurately — saying it cannot use his image and the party trying to delicately praise and talk around his bluster.

“That was not nearly enough for Donald Trump last night. He explicitly told his supporters not to give money to anyone but him, telling the faithful to donate through his Save America PAC,” Hayes said, before noting his fundraising group’s rather-telling acronym. “That’s S.A.P., for short.”

“I think the larger thing informing this, actually, Chris, is that Trump is just a profound grifter,” O’Brien replied to Hayes. “Any time he sees an ability to make coin, he will try to do it. You know, he came into the White House a profoundly ignorant person about the presidency and public policy-making.”

“Then the 2020 election happens and he discovers, I think for the first time, that he can use the big lie grift to actually raise scads of money,” O’Brien added. “He raised $200 million for his legal defense fund, of which only $14 million went to legal defense. And I think the light went off in his head then. I think it was another thing that he learned in the presidency was, you know what, I can monetize the Trump cult. And all of these working-class people and small donors who I have actually done nothing to help in my presidency but still believe I will, I can continue to scam them when I leave. And I think that’s what’s informing, you know, these fisticuffs now with the GOP.”

Hayes noted that, in one sense, Trump was correct, in that most Republican donors were doing so out of solidarity with Trump.

“It really is a co-dependent relationship,” Rubin agreed. “I don’t think the Democrats could possibly come up with anything as brilliant as this to have Donald Trump and the Republican Party pointing fingers saying, ‘No, send the money to me.’ ‘No, send the money to me.’ And we haven’t even gotten to the primary season yet. Wait until that hits. So, this is the dilemma of dealing with Donald Trump.”

As the MSNBC host noted: “He wants money, but he also — we know this about him — just hates the notion anyone’s making money off of him and he’s not getting cut in.”

“That is a huge neurosis of his,” Hayes added. “He’s not going to let that happen. He’s not going to sit back. There won’t be an arrangement or truce here. I think this is going to be a constant source of tension for the RNC.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

 

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