Republicans Threaten Donors: If You Stop Paying, We Tattle To Trump

BY Steph Bazzle June 1, 2021

What’s the worst thing you can do to a Trump supporter? Calling them socialists and threatening to tell the ex-president might be high up the list. That’s what the National Republican Congressional Conference (NRCC) is now doing to those who don’t promise recurring donations.

UNITED STATES – NOVEMBER 14: From left, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., speak to the media following the House GOP leadership elections in the Longworth House Office Building on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Forbes reporter Andrew Solender shared a screenshot on social media, showing that donors visiting the NRCC site can expect to see two yellow checkboxes. These are similar to what appears on many political donation sites, with the standard text asking the donor to check this box if they’d like the donation to recur automatically. However, these two take a stronger stance.

New NRCC checkbox just dropped: “If you UNCHECK this box, I’ll be forced to tell them you’ve deserted Trump for Socialism.” pic.twitter.com/WC4sZfdTc3

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) May 31, 2021

The first, with smaller text reading “Make this a recurring monthly donation,” declares in bold text with lots of capitalization, “If you UNCHECK this box, I’ll be forced to tell them you’ve deserted Trump for Socialism.”

The second box, inviting an extra donation to occur on June 7th, warns that if the box is unchecked, the donor is missing their “last chance to FLIP the House” so that Trump can run for President again.

An archived copy of the full page can be seen here.

It’s not exactly a new strategy for the Republican group, either — they made headlines for a similar threat in April. As the New York Times reported at the time, the warning then, for donors who didn’t agree to make the amount recurring monthly, was “If you UNCHECK this box, we will have to tell Trump you’re a DEFECTOR and sided with the Dems.” Then too, the text went on to suggest that agreeing to automatic repeat donations was the key to retaking the House and getting Donald Trump back into office.

It’s not clear who designs or approves the wording for these checkboxes, but the NRCC is an organization of Congressional Republicans, currently chaired by Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota.