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Join NowICYMI: Meet the Billionaire Trump Donors Padding RFK Jr.’s Campaign
AP: Kennedy and West third-party ballot drives are pushed by secretive groups and Republican donors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, MoveOn Political Action spotlights Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s dependence on Trump donors to fund his campaign and deceive voters into signing petitions under false pretenses to get on the ballot to siphon votes from President Biden. These revelations are coming to light as a leaked call between RFK Jr. and Donald Trump is circulating online, showing a chummy relationship between the two and a mutual love of fringe vaccine conspiracy theories.
Right-wing donor Timothy Mellon has given more than $50 million in contributions to both Trump and RFK Jr., making him the largest donor of the 2024 cycle so far. A Forbes list also names billionaire Elizabeth Uihlein, who doled out $10 million to Trump’s Super PAC between her and her husband, and $1.5 million to Ron DeSantis’s Super PAC.
“Donald Trump and his far-right donors know that this election will be decided on the margins, and siphoning off just enough votes from President Biden will help clear a path for a Trump victory and a Project 2025 takeover, which will hurt the middle class and undermine our personal freedoms. To be clear: Trump’s donors aren’t altruistic. Their investments are gaming the system to advance the interests of billionaires. RFK Jr. is nothing more than a MAGA puppet to them,” said MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich. “If RFK Jr. were truly serious about running as an ‘Independent,’ he would eschew donors from his rivals, and because he hasn’t, it’s proof that his campaign is just as cheap as his values.”
The list of RFK Jr.’s MAGA donors also includes these:
- RFK Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who gave $4.5 million to RFK Jr. Super PACs before becoming his running mate. Since then, she’s donated an additional $10 million directly to his campaign committee, Team Kennedy.
- Bill Ackman, billionaire hedge fund manager backing Trump. He gave $3,300.
- Bridget Koch, spouse to billionaire Bill Koch, brother of Charles and David Koch. She gave $1,000.
- Lisa Troutt, spouse of Texas telecom billionaire Kenny Troutt. Both are dependable and consistent Trump donors. She gave $2,500.
- Holly Gores, spouse to Tom Gores, billionaire president of Platinum Equity, a private equity firm headquartered in Beverly Hills. She gave $6,600.
BACKGROUND:
- Trump allies have publicly stated they are plotting to spoil the election against President Biden by backing third-party candidates, including Jill Stein and Dr. Cornel West, as well as RFK Jr.
- RFK Jr.’s Super PAC, American Values 2024, is being kept afloat by one donor: Trump megadonor Timothy Mellon, who has given the operation $25 million.
- Other RFK Jr. fundraisers have been linked to January 6, QAnoners, Christian nationalists, and far-right extremists.
- Republican operatives in North Carolina, a key battleground state, are working to get Dr. Cornel West on the presidential ballot.
- In Delaware, RFK Jr. is working with the Independent Party of Delaware (IPD), which has known ties to extremist, right-wing individuals. Its vice chairman, Phil Dyer, attended the riot at the Capitol on January 6 and recently called for another.
- RFK Jr. is also working with the “Natural Law Party” of Michigan, which nominated RFK Jr. at a two-person convention led by a part-time magician, while leaders from the same party’s Florida branch called RFK Jr.’s campaign “scammers.”
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