Melania’s Stylist

“Money makes the world go ‘round”.

Running for president takes lots of it. The election is 15 months away, but plenty of cash is flowing into Republican candidates’ coffers. Surprisingly, Donnie and Ronnie are running neck and neck in the fund-raising sweepstakes. The Trump campaign hauled in $54 million so far this year while the “Don’t Back Down” DeSantis bunch is $50 million richer. Left in the dust are Tim Scott at $19 million, Nikki Haley at $17 million, Chris Christie at $5.5 million, and poor Mike Pence at $3 million. Apparently, political favor-seekers will give you $3 million even if your odds of being nominated are about equal to winning MegaMillions.

These figures came from the Federal Election Commission. The FEC Report also includes “”cash on hand” for each of the candidates. This is confusing since Trump and DeSantis have support from multiple Political Action Committees, and Ronnie transferred his remaining war chest from his governor’s race to his national PACs. It appears that both Donnie and Ronnie have close to $100 million to play with. How can you make $100 million? Run for president or be Kim Kardashian.

Donnie’s “cash on hand” should be higher. The FEC Report noted that the PAC that is paying his legal bills gave out $97 million so far in 2023. That was before the Georgia vote tampering and classified documents in the Mar-a-Lago bathroom go to trial. Donnie’s lawyers have job security.

The most interesting note in the FEC Report was that the Trump campaign paid $108 K to Herve Pierre Braillard, Melania’s “stylist” for “strategy consulting”. That was just for January through June, 2023, by the way. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Melania so far this year, but I’ll bet she looks good. For $108 K, she had better. Actually, that $108 K is a bargain. When Melania was in the White House, she was sporting $50 K coats. She probably shops at Kohl’s now.

Europe limits election campaigning to six weeks. Europe forbids “campaign donations” and publicly funds candidates. The 2024 campaign in America has been going since November, 2022. Obscene amounts of money are being thrown at the candidates. The only people who benefit are Trump’s lawyers and Melania’s stylist.

By Ed Dufton