For a man who aspires to be the Republican nominee for the presidency in 2012, the Donald sports an interesting history of contributions to political figures. The list of recipients of the billionaire’s largesse includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of the most polarizing and partisan figures on the Washington scene for decades, and former Obama right hand and current Windy City mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The Washington Post reports that the real estate mogul has made more than $1.3 million in donations to political candidates, 54 percent of them to Democrats. Many of Trump’s contributions have been in New York, Florida, and other states where he holds real estate and casino interests.
Other candidates Trump has backed include Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her successful bid for the U.S. Senate, Sen. John Kerry (MA), Sen. Charles Schumer (NY), the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA), and the curious Rep. Charles Rangel (NY). In New York state, where Trump is a resident, he has ponied up nearly $600,000 in campaign contributions, with more than two-thirds going to Democrats. His single largest donation, $125,000, went to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee of New York.
Ever since he jumped feet-first into the 2012 presidential fray, Trump has attempted to paint himself as a conservative, this despite earlier statements in support of abortion rights. Unlike the two staunchly conservative GOP presidential hopefuls who recently announced their candidacy, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, Trump has yet to commit officially, though his sudden emergence as a prospect has garnered him attention.
Trump’s biggest claim to fame as a candidate to date was reinvigorating the debate over the president’s birthplace, a debate that ended yesterday when the White House website published a copy of the long form of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. The revelation would seem to be a setback for Trump, but instead the bombastic figure declared victory in forcing the issue.
As to his political donation history, Trump was recently pigeonholed on the topic by FOX News’s Sean Hannity. Trump’s reply:
Everyone’s Democratic. So what am I going to do—contribute to Republicans? One thing: I’m not stupid. Am I going to contribute to Republicans for my whole life when they get heat when they run against some Democrat and the most they can get is 1 percent of the vote?
Poster Comment:
Explains Joy Behar's endorsement.
