2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: *** Breaking *** Donald Trump’s Charity Scandal Is About to Go National [View all]KewlKat
(5,782 posts)By Rebecca Berg
October 04, 2016
As Donald Trump began making noise about a possible bid for president in 2011, South Carolina conservative activist Oran Smith caught the celebrity businessmans eye as a particularly vocal and potentially influential critic.
"Trump would get thumped here, Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council, a social conservative public policy group, told the Christian Broadcasting Network. He is a celebrity, but an apprentice at politics.
Smiths comments appeared in a March 2011 CBN story alongside feedback from other key national evangelical leaders such as Ralph Reed and Tony Perkins. Shortly after the story ran, Trump called Smith and invited him to meet at Trump Tower in New York, Smith told RealClearPolitics, to see if he could convince me those things werent true.
It probably had something to do with, I was in an early primary state, Smith said. Trump was laying the foundation for a ... campaign, Smith thought at the time, although it was difficult trying to tell if he was serious about running for president or not.
goes on to say.........From 2011 through 2014, Trump harnessed his eponymous foundation to send at least $286,000 to influential conservative or policy groups, a RealClearPolitics review of the foundations tax filings found. In many cases, this flow of money corresponded to prime speaking slots or endorsements that aided Trump as he sought to recast himself as a plausible Republican candidate for president.
SOURCE: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/10/04/trump_used_foundation_funds_for_2016_run_filings_suggest.html