Trigger happy: RNC shelled out nearly $100,000 to buy Trump Jr's book before sale, says it was only meeting demand
If President Donald Trump is agitated over his Democratic rival Joe Biden’s alleged favoritism vis-a-vis son Hunter, his critics have their counter ammunition in place. The Democrats and critics of the president have pointed to the newly revealed Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing, which shows the Republican National Committee (RNC) shelled out nearly $100,000 for purchasing the new book by one of Trump’s son titled ‘Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence US’.
A spokesperson for the RNC told The New York Times that the single October buy of $94,800 as confirmed in a recent FEC filing was about promoting the book penned by Donald Trump Junior, the president’s eldest son. According to the critics, this is precisely the reason why the book’s sale did so well prior to its hitting the shelves in early November. The RNC paid the money to the bookseller chain Books-A-Million on October 29, the FEC filing showed.
The book went on to feature on New York Times’ bestsellers’ list for the first two weeks and many believe it happened because of RNC ordering about 10,000 copies. It was learned that the RNC handed signed copy of the books away in exchange for individuals donating $50 or more while it can be purchased for around $18 on Amazon. The GOP sent a fundraising email promising signed copies of the book in exchange for donations the very day the book hit the stores.
Even the president was no less elated about his son’s book and its going on to become the No.1 in the bestsellers’ list. On November 13, he congratulated his 41-year-old son, saying on Twitter: “Wow! Was just told that my son's book, 'Triggered,' is Number One on The New York Times Bestseller List. Congratulations Don!”
Three days later, he tweeted again: “‘'Triggered,’' a great book by my son, Don. Now number one on @NYTIMES LIST. Keep it there for a while!”
RNC's contradictory claims
The RNC confirmed this month that it got half a million dollars by giving signed books in lieu of donations, Daily Mail reported. Earlier, the committee had told the Times that had not made any “large bulk purchase” of the new book but were ordering copies to meet the demand.
“We haven’t made a large bulk purchase, but are ordering copies to keep up with demand,” Mike Reed, a spokesman for the RNC, said two days after the fundraising email promoting the book was sent, NYT reported. “Each book is sold to an individual who supports the Republican Party.”
But the FEC filing showed the RNC made the huge payment a week before the book hit the stores. RNC's disclosure showed that the payment was aimed at "donor mementos".
When asked about it, Reed said the money went for the orders and added that the committee made additional purchases this month since the book has been "hugely popular". But when further asked about the RNC's previous stand that it was only ordering copies as per the demands, Reed said they stood by their statement
Trump Junior, who is the executive vice president of Trump Organization, is open about the RNC ordering around 10,000 copies. His spokesperson told Daily Mail that the overall sales in the first week were $71,000 which is more than twice than that at the second position in the Times bestsellers’ list.
Experts saw that even the second week of its sales saw the ‘Triggered’ eclipsing ‘With All Due Respect’ penned by former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, which was still in its first week of sales, by quite a margin. On Amazon, Trump Junior’s book was only second to Malcolm Gladwell’s self-help book ‘Talking to Strangers’ in its second week of sales in the non-fiction category. Haley’s book was in the third position.