Former President Donald Trump once cut a check to Vice President Kamala Harris, a donation people online are flagging following President Joe Biden’s decision to bow out of the 2024 presidential election.
After Biden endorsed Harris for the Democratic presidential nominee over the weekend, news of the previous connection between Trump and the current vice president went viral on social media.
As it turns out, Trump donated a total of $6,000 to Harris more than a decade ago while she was a candidate for California attorney general. The donations, according to public records, show that Trump gave $5,000 to Harris in 2011 before handing over an additional $1,000 in 2013.
A scan of the check Trump used to make the first donation is being shared widely online.
“Since Donald Trump is already attacking Kamala Harris… here’s a reminder that he donated to her 2011 attorney general campaign as the AG office investigated Trump University’s allegedly illegal business practices,” campaign finance reporter Anna Massoglia wrote. “Harris eventually gave the money from Trump to a nonprofit.”
Left-leaning X users also used the donations to mock Trump by suggesting that the former president clearly viewed Harris as a formidable politician.
“LOL! Donald Trump donated to Kamala Harris in 2011,” influencer Harry Sisson said. “Even he thinks she’s a great pick for office!
Yet the former president wasn’t the only Trump to donate to Harris. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, gave $2,000 to Harris in 2014 as well.
Many feel the donations were politically motivated, given that Trump’s now-defunct university faced legal action in California at the time.
“Donald and Ivanka Trump each donated to Kamala Harris’s campaign for California attorney general in 2011, when Trump University was facing a class-action lawsuit in California,” X user Josh Rudolph noted. “She donated the money to a charity that advocates for the civil and human rights of Central Americans.”
Trump supporters, as well as the former president himself, appear to be remaining quiet about the donations, at least for now.
Trump’s campaign has, however, taken jabs at Harris since Biden suggested she run for the presidency.
“Kamala Harris is just as much of a joke as Biden is. Harris will be even worse for the people of our nation than Joe Biden,” the campaign said on Sunday. “Harris has been the Enabler-in-Chief for Crooked Joe this entire time.”
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