President Donald Trump referred to as for the prosecution of former Vice President Kamala Harris, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and civil rights chief, the Rev. Al Sharpton, accusing Harris of paying the high-profile stars to endorse her 2024 presidential marketing campaign.
In a publish on Reality Social, Trump referred to as out the Democratic Occasion’s monetary debt post-election. The president falsely claimed that Democrats “admit” to “illegally” paying Beyoncé $11 million for an endorsement of Harris.
“She by no means sang, not one observe, and left the stage to a booing and offended viewers!” Trump falsely wrote about Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland’s look at a Harris rally of their hometown of Houston, Texas.
Whereas it’s true that Beyoncé didn’t sing or carry out on the rally, as many followers had hoped, contemplating Beyoncé’s track “Freedom” was Harris’s marketing campaign theme track, there is no such thing as a proof that she was booed by the viewers. Nonetheless, Trump could also be incorrectly referencing a video on the Oct. 25, 2024, rally that exhibits the viewers booing to drown out a protester who interrupted Harris’s speech–a frequent prevalence at her rallies amid outrage over Israel’s navy operation in Gaza.
The Harris marketing campaign and Beyoncé’s camp have beforehand disputed the false claims that she was paid to endorse Harris. Nonetheless, data from the Federal Election Fee present that the marketing campaign did pay Beyoncé’s manufacturing firm, Parkwood Manufacturing Media LLC, $165,000. As a marketing campaign spokesperson had beforehand famous, the cost is legally required for occasion productions related to expertise like Beyoncé.
In his Reality Social publish, Trump additionally named $3 million in bills paid to Winfrey, who hosted a primetime TV particular in assist of Harris. Winfrey, who’s price greater than $3 billion and denied the “lie” that she was paid for her dwell sit-down interview with Harris, defined that her marketing campaign’s manufacturing firm, Harpo Productions, was equally reimbursed $1 million for manufacturing prices.
Trump additionally claimed that Sharpton, who runs the nonprofit group Nationwide Motion Community, was paid $600,000 by the marketing campaign for his endorsement. The president additionally wrote that Sharpton was a “low-rated TV anchor,” referring to his gig at MSNBC. Sharpton beforehand defined that the funds had been donations to his nonprofit and that neither he nor Nationwide Motion Community made an endorsement within the presidential contest.
Regardless of these details, Trump mentioned, “These ridiculous charges had been incorrectly acknowledged within the books and data. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO.”
He added, “Are you able to think about what would occur if politicians began paying for individuals to endorse them. All hell would escape! Kamala, and all of people who acquired (sic) Endorsement cash, BROKE THE LAW. They need to all be prosecuted! Thanks in your consideration to this matter.”
Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross dismissed Trump’s false claims about Beyoncé, Oprah, and Sharpton, arguing that he’s fixated on final 12 months’s election due to Harris’s crowd sizes.
“Although he received in 2024, took all the battleground states, no query, he’s nonetheless gravely bothered by the crowds that Kamala Harris received out. And to negate the truth that that was performed by sheer pleasure, he’s making an attempt to throw his personal conspiracy concept out,” Cross advised theGrio.
She added, “He was bothered by the extent of superstars who had been capable of come and present up. As a result of, bear in mind, he couldn’t get anyone. He received all of the B, C and D-list, of us.”
Cross additionally prompt what many critics have mentioned about Trump over the previous few weeks: he’s merely making an attempt to distract from the political controversy over his connection to convicted intercourse trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his administration’s refusal to launch FBI recordsdata associated to his prison case–regardless of a marketing campaign promise to take action.
“Donald Trump needs to speak about something that’s not Epstein, as a result of he hates guilt by affiliation,” mentioned Cross, who prompt that the Epstein scandal isn’t going away.
Trump’s MAGA base of supporters has lengthy been fixated on the Epstein recordsdata, hoping to uncover proof of the rich and highly effective, particularly Democrats, being concerned within the execution or cover-up of Epstein’s intercourse trafficking ring that concerned minor women. Even Epstein’s suicide has been some extent of conspiracy theories, as some imagine he was murdered in an effort to maintain his secrets and techniques silent
Referring to the president’s penchant for pushing conspiracy theories, together with the racist birther conspiracy about former President Barack Obama, Cross defined, “Upon getting stoked that degree of instigation round conspiracy theories, there may be nothing you can provide [his base] that may make them cease.”
She added, “That’s how conspiracy concept works. We’re nonetheless making an attempt to determine the magic bullet concept, what number of years after JFK’s assassination?”
