‘A Wise Investment’? Donald Trump Once Donated To Kamala Harris’s Campaign
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Records show that Donald Trump, back when he was a real-estate developer, made a generous donation for US Vice President Kamala Harris’s re-election bid as California attorney general
US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) lost the election to former president Donald Trump as results were declared on November 6. (Image: AFP/File)
Believe it or not. There was a time when President-elect Donald Trump believed in Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’s political career. Now that he has effectively made a dent in it with his sweeping victory over her in the US presidential elections, it would not be amiss to look at how the businessman in him dealt with politicians in the past.
Call it an awkward truth, a pure business decision or a tactical move, but in 2011, Trump – who was a real-estate developer then – donated $5,000 to “Re-elect Attorney General Kamala D Harris 2014″. Records show that he wrote a check – dated September 26, 2011 and bearing his distinctive signature – to California’s top prosecutor then for her re-election campaign as the state’s attorney general.
This fact surfaced on social media within hours of President Joe Biden dropping his re-election bid in July and endorsing Harris as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. Congressman Jared Moskowitz from Florida, posted a photo of the check on his X and wrote: “Was a wise investment.”
According to a report published by The Guardian, Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee, replied: “When Trump wrote that check to re-elect Kamala Harris in 2011, I bet he didn’t think she’d cash it in 2024!”
In fact, not only Trump but his daughter Ivanka Trump too made a donation to Harris. Records by the California secretary of state show that the $5,000-donation was not the only gift to Harris from the Trump family.
He later wrote a check for $1,000 to his future rival in February 2013 right before her campaign began. By this time, he was a Republican. Later, in June 2014, Ivanka donated $2,000 to the Vice President’s re-election committee.
In total, the Trumps donated $8,000 to Harris’s campaign of which $6,000 came from the former president alone – noted as the largest contribution to her political coffers then. It even came up during her 2020 presidential campaign as Biden’s running mate, when Fox News reported on the $5,000-donation.
Another Side To The Story?
In 2020, however, Fox News reported that Trump had been persuaded to make this donation to Harris’s campaign at the request of New York’s then top prosecutor, now-disgraced Eric Schneiderman. He had held a fundraiser for Harris in September 2011, and Trump bought a ticket for the event at the top price of $5,000, with Ivanka attending.
But, there are media reports that also link this donation to an investigation into Trump University back then. However, a report published by the Sacramento Bee said Harris gave away the entire $6,000 to a civil rights non-profit organisation in Central America when she began her run for the US Senate.
Trump – a registered Democratic Party member from 2001 to 2009 – may now be a hardcore Republican but, according to him, he has contributed to “most of them” (referring to his political rivals) including Hillary Clinton.
“I was looking at the ones I’m running against. I’ve contributed to most of them. Can you believe it? I contribute to everybody. I’ve given to Democrats. I’ve given to Hillary (Clinton). I’ve given to everybody because that was my job,” he once said during his 2016 presidential campaign.
- Location :
California, USA
