The Trump campaign used tricks to get donors to give more money than they intended.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump have sometimes dug deep into his finances to respond to his candidate’s call for financial assistance in the race for the presidential election. What many of them have found, however, is that they have unwittingly signed up to make recurring donations that sometimes depleted bank accounts. And the people who were victims of these schemes were not just people who had no technology experience, even veteran political agents found they were tricked into giving more than they wanted, reveals the New York Times in an investigation into the former’s fundraiser chairman practices.

While it is difficult to determine the exact number of how many people have been cheated, there is a number that suggests that many people ended up donating more money than they intended. The Trump campaign refunded 10.7 percent of the money raised on the Republican Party WinRed fundraising platform. This totaled about $ 122 million in online donations in 2020, clearly higher than the $ 21 million that President Joe Biden’s campaign returned to donors during the same period. And while Biden’s repayments were quite stable throughout the year, the New York Times shows how repayments started to increase when the Trump campaign ended up increasing the use of pre-marked boxes that often involuntarily led supporters to donate more. cash.

The Times takes a look at how pre-marked boxes evolved from simple statements that pressured donors to turn their donations into recurring gifts. What started out as a simple box to set up a recurring monthly donation ended up evolving into a mass of confusing text. Finally, all donors received two pre-checked boxes, one to set up a recurring weekly donation and the other to authorize a completely separate donation. Many of the donors were so confused by what was happening that they filed fraudulent actions at their banks and credit card companies, convinced that their information had been stolen.

Even though those who complained had their money returned, it means that the Trump campaign received “an interest-free loan from involuntary supporters at the most important time in the 2020 race,” notes the Times. Trump later raised money after the election, claiming he would use it to pursue his unfounded allegations of electoral fraud, when in fact it was often used to reimburse donors.

While the practices used by the Trump campaign are legal, that does not mean that they are ethical. “It is unfair, it is unethical and it is inappropriate,” said Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Another expert said that Trump’s campaign tactics “should be in the textbooks of what you shouldn’t be doing.”