Top News

Trump And The GOP Are Scamming The Elderly And Dementia Patients

Trump and the GOP’s chosen fundraising platform, WinRed, is taking advantage of the elderly and, in some cases, people with dementia by signing them up for monthly recurring donations.

CNBC reported:

“Cancel account and stop billing my credit card,” Oklahoma resident Samie Elliot wrote in a January email that landed in Hurtt’s inbox. She later explained to him that neither she nor her husband, who are both retired, recalled ever signing up for recurring monthly political donations and that these charges have been occurring for at least a year.

These donations all appear to have been small, recurring contributions. Exactly the kind that Elliot said they did not recall signing up for. Samie Elliot did not respond to requests for comment.

“Every one of them has told me a similar story: elderly, sometimes dementia, and don’t remember donating month after month,” said Hurtt, who shared nine email exchanges with CNBC for this story.

Trump’s online fundraising has plunged almost 63%, and the Republican Party heavily depends on older people for their online fundraising.

Donald Trump and his party have been running this scam on unwitting donors for years. Trump and the GOP had to return $12.5 million in automatically recurring donations to unwitting donors in the first half of 2021.

It is appalling to think that some of these people who are having money taken out of their account every month may have dementia or another illness that makes it difficult for them to understand much less approve a recurring transaction.

According to CNBC, ActBlue has had some complaints about some of these same issues, but their share of refunds has at times been much less than that of Republicans, which suggests that the issues aren’t as chronic and numerous as they are in Trump’s party.

The recurring donation opt-in is a problem, and authorities should set clear and explicit standards to protect donors and their money.

A Special Message From PoliticusUSA

If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. 

We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.

[wpedon id=”344887″ align=”center”]

 

Follow Me
Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements. Awards and  Professional Memberships Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

Recent Posts

Trump And House GOP’s Promise To Not Cut Social Security Is Total Nonsense

Trump got House Republicans to not use reconciliation to cut Social Security. The problem is…

20 hours ago

Trump And Mike Johnson Agree To Apparently Cut Americans’ Healthcare To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Rich

President-elect Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson have agreed to a deal that would fund the…

21 hours ago

Dozens Of Republicans Humiliate Trump/Musk By Voting Down CR

Donald Trump demanded that the debt limit be raised as part of the government funding…

2 days ago

Trump And Vance Blame Biden For Elon Musk Caused Chaos

Donald Trump and JD Vance are blaming President Biden for the havoc caused by Elon…

3 days ago

House Republicans Are Falling Apart And Now Mike Johnson Could Be Toast

The first little bit of pressure involving passing a bill to keep the government open…

3 days ago

Elon Musk Melts Down As House Republicans Show Him That He Has No Power

X boss Elon Musk is throwing a tantrum on his social media platform as House…

3 days ago