Donald Trump insists he doesn’t need help from wealthy donors for his White House bid, but that hasn’t stopped equestrians, Los Angeles filmmakers, Hispanics and contractors from setting up PACs to boost his candidacy.
Four PACs have registered with the Federal Election Commission in recent days to raise and spend money on behalf of Trump. Organizers believe the real estate tycoon will eventually need outside funding, despite his tough talk.
Clifford Martin, a documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles and treasurer of MAGAPAC2016 along with a group of other film industry “worker bees” registered the super PAC earlier this week.
MAGAPAC2016 — MAGA stands for the Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — plans to launch viral video campaigns with its funds. The organization is still in its early stages so its plans are still blurry, but members trust that their “elite, high-end skills” from working in movies and TV will help them along the way. Martin said “As for the look and ‘feel’ — it would be History Channel meets Wes Anderson/Life Aquatic, fresh eyes/new lens on TRUMP!”
CLICK HERE to view MAGAPAC2016's website.
Trump’s emphasis on building U.S. clout also seems to have excited some in the construction industry. Last week, a Florida-based group named “Contractors supporting the GOP candidate whose platform is to Make America Great Again,” filed a single-candidate PAC for Trump. Executive Director Richard Roth sent a statement describing plans to reach out to construction workers, architects and engineers, writing, “We in this Super PAC will strive to inform these potential groups of voters that a fellow builder, Donald Trump, would have the interests of the construction industry as one of his main priorities.” Presumably inspired by Trump’s rabble-rousing immigration stance, Roth argues that cheap labor provided by undocumented immigrants has hurt citizens in the industry.
However, Trump’s comments on Mexican-American relations do not seem to have offended the “Hispanic Citizens for Trump” super PAC, which also appeared on the FEC’s website early this week. Treasurer Frank Ramirez defended Trump’s comments and said the candidate never intended to smear all Mexican immigrants. “We will not be indifferent regarding this hijack of the migrant population’s vote by the left through their classically masterful race baiting, and countless other disingenuous tactics,” he said.
Other media outlets have also reported on two other super PACs. Bloomberg reported that “Make America Great Again PAC,” another super PAC sporting the Trump campaign slogan, filed its papers earlier this month. When asked for a comment, Treasurer Leslie Caldwell declined.
The other super PAC, “Citizens for Restoring USA,” was filed in April, even before Trump announced his candidacy. Robert Kiger, head of the super PAC, has been on several news programs advocating for Trump. Reflecting on his appearances, he claims, “I have a lot of dinners that CNN and Fox News people owe me because every time I’m 100 percent right, and Karl Rove has been 100 percent wrong.”
Kiger, who owns the Elegante Polo clothing retailer in Florida, praises Trump’s clashes with the Republican establishment and mainstream media, noting, “His theme song should be ‘No Air’ by Jordin Sparks because he’s like a halon fire suppression system. When he walks in, he’s sucking in all the air of the lungs of the presidential field.” Thus far, the super PAC has made one online video, “Donald Trump on the Road to the Presidency 2016,” which is a montage of Trump news coverage. Kiger plans to keep raising money to buy pro-Trump ad time on TV and radio and produce higher-quality videos, though he would not divulge how much he’s raised so far.
Kiger explains, “I’m a polo player,” adding, “Because of my equestrian involvement, I originally was going to call the PAC ‘Equestrians for Trump.’” He then decided against it, though, because he didn’t want to limit the scope.
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