After Vice President Mike Pence blew through hundreds of thousands of dollars on a political stunt, Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is trying to raise money from the costly.
As CNBC’s Christina Wilkie pointed out a short time ago on Twitter, “Pence’s NFL walk out wasn’t just a political stunt. It was a fundraising stunt, too.”
.@VP Pence’s NFL walk out wasn’t just a political stunt. It was a fundraising stunt, too.
Latest from Trump’s 2020 campaign: “VP under fire” pic.twitter.com/USVX44QfDe— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 9, 2017
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In a later tweet, Wilkie pointed out another stunning fact: The money being raised through this latest fundraising ploy can also be used to cover Trump’s mounting legal fees.
PS – The money Trump raises from this taxpayer subsidized NFL stunt can be used to pay Trump’s legal bills. https://t.co/YyNuf6rM0a
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 9, 2017
It’s not surprising that this administration would try to pull this kind of stunt, but it’s somewhat stunning that they actually thought the American people wouldn’t see right through it.
And, boy was it a costly stunt. According to CNN, the vice president’s stunt cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million dollars – $242,500, to be exact.
CNN’s breakdown of the math:
According to the Air Force, flying a C-32, the model of plane used for Air Force 2, for one hour costs about $30,000. Pence’s flight from Las Vegas to Indianapolis Saturday took about three hours and 20 minutes, so it cost about $100,000.
Pence then flew from Indianapolis to Los Angeles on Sunday, which took about four hours and 45 minutes, costing about $142,500.
Pence’s political stunt is pathetic in and of itself. It served no purpose other than riling up the dwindling number of voters that already support this president and deepening the overall political divisions in this country.
Put it in the context of what others in this administration have done, though, and there is a clear pattern: This White House has very little concern of how it spends taxpayer dollars.
Others in the administration – Tom Price, Steve Mnuchin, and Ryan Zinke, to name a few – have racked up hundreds of thousands in needlessly expensive travel costs at our expense, all after Trump campaigned on draining the swamp of Washington.
Pence’s phony publicity stunt in Indianapolis – and the subsequent fundraising effort by Trump’s campaign – is truly remarkable, but it’s part of a larger trend in this White House, and it likely won’t be the last time we see this administration shamelessly throw away taxpayer money.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
