The RNC Is Ramping Up Its 'Predatory' Fundraising Machine Roger Sollenbe
As the Republican National Committee ramps up its fundraising operation for the midterm elections, the GOP group is reviving some of its shadiest tactics—and taking them a step further.
Just this week, the RNC sent out text messages and emails to Republican supporters alerting them that their “payment status” was “incomplete,” seeming to masquerade a fundraising request as an unpaid bill. And emails on Monday from the RNC draw on the same theme, using the words “FINAL NOTICE” in the header to implore donors to activate a “lifetime membership.”
The RNC doesn’t bother explaining what a “lifetime membership” actually means.
Other solicitations claim that a “250% impact offer” is “exclusive to YOU,” while not clarifying what an “impact offer” is, or explaining how the implied 250 percent matching donation would be paid. (That ploy, which Democrats also routinely use, is reportedly under Justice Department review.) And other emails falsely suggest that contributions to the RNC will support Trump’s recent lawsuit against social media companies, even though the RNC plays no role in that litigation.
“Taken all together, these are the kinds of predatory tactics you only see in the scammiest models,” Jordan Libowitz, the communications director for government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said.
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The tactics are an extension of dubious fundraising schemes Republicans deployed in 2020, both before and after the election. In late December, Trump pushed out an email similar to the RNC’s recent “payment status incomplete” blasts. And while those fundraising efforts drew widespread criticism for misleading donors on a number of fronts, they proved lucrative, pulling in half a billion dollars between mid-October and the end of November.
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