I had a chat with the progressive Democrat running for a central Oregon congressional seat, Jamie McLeod-Skinner. We were wondering if Lori Chavez DeRemer would ask Trump to make her part of “Official Team Trump” or if she would be too scared to let her constituents know of her affinity to the MAGA agenda. Jamie laughed: “I ‘came out of the closet’ years ago about who I am as a person. But it seems Lori is now closeted about who she is politically. Last year, she went from proudly proclaiming her support for, and from, Donald Trump in the primary to pretending to be moderate afterwards. Regardless of what she claims, her conservative MAGA voting record speaks for itself. And it’s not good for Oregonians.” Consider contributing to Jamie’s campaign here.
So many Republicans have been raising money off Trump’s name without his permission that he’s now tightening up the ship. According to a report by Alex Isenstadt, the Trump campaign announced that only people who explicitly asked for and received Trump’s endorsement can use his name and likeness in their fundraising efforts. And remember in dozens of districts, Trump’s name is gold in GOP primaries but toxic in the general elections— like in Oregon’s 5th district where Jamie is running.
Isenstadt wrote that starting the campaign would begin giving a “Seal of Approval” to candidates Trump endorses, in order to help the party’s donors distinguish between those who Señor T actually supports— and support him— and those who are trying to raise money off his name by falsely conveying they have his backing. For example, Chip Roy (R-TX), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Richard McCormick (R-GA), Bob Good (R-VA), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) have all infuriated Trump by endorsing DeSantis. They are absolutely not allowed to use his name in their ads or appeals. Ditto for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. Ralph Norman (R-SC) is on Trump’s shit list too, for endorsing Nikki Haley, as are Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) for endorsing Tim Scott. Even governors and members of Congress who have declined to endorse have earned Trump’s ire, especially Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA), senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Reps he has helped in the past like Mike Lawler (R-NY), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Steve Scalise (R-LA), Tom Emmer (R-MN), David Schweikert (R-AZ) and David Joyce (R-OH).
In fact, Alan Grayson is running for the seat Rick Scott is trying to hold onto. He told me this morning that, “In regard to whether Scott will try to benefit from Trump’s support, some people would say that he’s damned if he doesn’t and damned if he doesn’t. I prefer to say that Rick Scott is damned, no matter what. Anyone who steals $1.5 billion from poor, sick people as a hospital potentate, and then shuts down state public health as governor so that it won’t ‘compete’ against his own clinics, that person is going straight to Hell, on the express train.” You can contribute to Grayson’s campaign here.
A Trump campaign statement noted that it is unfortunate that “some candidates, PACs and their fundraising vendors have drained millions of dollars from President Trump’s donors by falsely claiming that they support President Trump, that the president supports them, and that funds received in response to the solicitations will support, help, or defend President Trump.” So far the campaign is refusing to say what percentage of the candidates' take will have to go to Trump as a form of tribute.
Eisenstadt wrote that “According to the announcement, those who do have Trump’s support will be granted the use of a gold-emblazoned badge reading ‘Official Team Trump.’ Trump’s campaign says it is encouraging Trump-endorsed candidates and groups to use the seal in fundraising solicitations, and on social media and advertisements.
‘The Seal will be a powerful signal to President Trump’s loyal donors that the sender is on Team Trump, and is not a scammer,’ the campaign said. Trump’s lieutenants have long fought those who, they say, have improperly tried to fundraise off the former president’s name. In March, the campaign sent a letter to the National Republican Congressional Committee and 10 Republican consulting firms asking them to stop using Trump’s name and likeness in fundraising pitches. And in 2021, Trump’s operation sent a cease-and-desist letter to the NRCC, National Republican Senatorial Committee and Republican National Committee demanding they stop fundraising off him. The campaign said it plans to put a list of those candidates with the seal on its website. And in the announcement it warns that, ‘Any entity that mimics or unlawfully uses the Seal without explicit approval from a representative of President Trump’s campaign may face legal action.’”
Truly inane question. ALL nazis will be loyal to der pumpkinfuhrer or whoever wins their nom. That's the nature of naziism.
Or didn't anyone remember 2016? Once he won, they were ALL IN on trump naziism. Even cheney (97% vote with trump!) and the few others whose bridge too far was the coup and attempt to steal the election. But they're all gone now... so... who is left? devout nazi party members. "Got mit uns".