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Trump Campaign Admits it did not Raise $6M for Vets, or Even Close

Saturday, May 21, 2016 7:09

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(Before It's News)

When Donald Trump decided to skip the last Presidential debate in Iowa, he held a rally in Iowa that he claimed was a fundraiser for Veterans groups. From the very beginning, many have openly questioned the fantastic claims Trump made about this event, especially considering that from the beginning Trump was unable to explain which veterans groups were going to get this massive money he was allegedly raising.

Trump sought to quell much of the furor about skipping the debate by claiming that his event had raised an astonishing $6M for veterans groups, of which $1M was donated personally by Trump or his foundations. This led many to naturally wonder, who is receiving the money and when will they receive it?

Back in March, the Trump campaign finally released a list of 27 groups who had allegedly received some $2.9M, almost all of which had been actually donated by Trump, his foundations, or foundations associated with Carl Icahn. Even that figure was the subject of some dispute as some of the groups listed disclaimed having received any funds at all.

Now, at last, the Trump campaign is fessing up to the fact that the veterans rally did not raise $6M, or even close. In fact, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was forced to admit that they have not even raised $4.5M, as was reported by the Washington Post recently.

Following the rally in Des Moines, Iowa, the Trump campaign said the event raised $5 million and Trump personally contributed an additional $1 million. But campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told CNN Friday the amount raised was actually less than $6 million.

Lewandowski said he did not “know the exact number” off the top of his head and would confirm the number in coming days. He explained the discrepancy by saying at the time of the rally, Trump believed he had raised $6 million but more money had been pledged than was actually donated.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually netted about $4.5 million. Lewandowski told CNN that number is incorrect.

Here’s a problem that Donald Trump is soon to face: his supporters are good at attending rallies and waving signs, but not so much good at actually opening their pocketbooks and supporting causes (including Trump’s own election). Apparently the source of the huge discrepancy (according to the Trump campaign) is that they got pledges for $5M, but it looks like the actual total raised by Trump supporters at this rally was less than $1M.

So, like Trump, Trump’s supporters are big on the idea of helping vets, and telling others that they are helping vets, but not so much into actually helping vets.

The post Trump Campaign Admits it did not Raise $6M for Vets, or Even Close appeared first on RedState.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/2016/05/21/trump-campaign-admits-raise-6m-vets-even-close/