The military veterans
group VoteVets is blasting presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald
Trump as a “fraud,” after it was revealed that his claim that he raised $6.5
million for veterans was a lie.
A Washington
Post report uncovered the
truth behind yet another wild Trump statement:
One night in January, Donald Trump skipped a GOP debate and instead held his own televised fundraiser for veterans. At the end of the night, Trump proclaimed it a huge success: “We just cracked $6 million, right? Six million.”
Now, Trump’s campaign says that number is incorrect.
Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually netted about $4.5 million, or 75 percent of the total that Trump announced.
Trump used the $6 million figure as a public relations talking
point for himself in the days following the fundraiser, while he campaigned for
votes in the Republican primary.
Yet when asked by the Post to account for all
of the money he allegedly collected, Trump refused.
Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told the Post, “That’s just shady. Right? No matter how you cut it, that’s just shady.”
Now VoteVets has responded to
the Post article, and they are also blasting
Trump for the way he used the veteran’s issue to boost his own profile, while
giving soldiers less than he promised.
Responding to the story, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman of VoteVets.org, Jon Soltz said: “Donald Trump is a cheap fraud.
"In a classic fraud move, made himself look good to the public by lying to the American people, and veterans about how much he raised for veterans’ groups, when he hid behind them to get out of the GOP debate.
"He said he raised $6 million. Now, when investigated by reporters, he finally admits that he overstated the amount by millions, and never raised what he told people he did. In fact, there may still be groups who are waiting for their check.”
Soltz further notes, “We now need to presume that he is lying
about how much he claims he has given to veterans over the years, and that’s
part of the reason he won’t release his taxes.”
VoteVets describes itself as an organization with over 400,000
supporters that uses “public issue campaigns and direct outreach to lawmakers
to ensure that troops abroad have what they need to complete their missions,
and receive the care they deserve when they get home.”
Author Oliver
Willis was one of the first political bloggers in the world (since
2000), and was among the first bloggers to interview President Obama at the
White House. On Twitter @owillis and write at OliverWillis.com