A reporter with the left-wing Washington Post disapproves of a triple-amputee veteran’s Go Fund Me campaign to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border that has raised more than $13 million. The reporter tried to shut it down, claiming the effort violated the fundraising website’s terms because it discriminated against mostly Latinos trying to get into the United States.
Tony Romm, who is a tech reporter for the Post and contributes to MSNBC and other leftist media outlets, announced his effort to shut down veteran Brian Kolfage’s wall funding campaign that has raised almost $14 million in five days.
“So there’s an effort on GoFundMe to raise cash money for a border wall. Has more than $5M in donations (seeking $1B) and claims to have contacts in the Trump admin (have asked for more). But it got me thinking: is that, like, allowed on the site?” Romm tweeted.
“GoFundMe terms prohibit attempts to raise cash money rooted in ‘intolerance of any kind relating to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, or serious disabilities or diseases,’ among other limits,” Romm tweeted.
“So I asked GoFundMe if this wall fundraiser violates that. Spox: ‘This campaign does not violate our terms of service. The funds are safely held by our payment processor, and we will work with the organizer to transfer funds’ or return them if target isn’t met,’” Romm tweeted.
“This was my next question — how does that work, and what about the contention in the pitch itself that there are convos with Trump admin officials? are they allowed to have those convos?” Romm tweeted.
Romm did not do his homework because Kolfage’s Go Fund Me page explained this process, including a lawmaker’s introduction of a bill that would allow the money raised to be directed to funding a wall through U.S. Treasury bonds, and the campaign is also exploring other legal avenues to allow the federal government to use the funds.
“We will hold all funds and not release a single penny until we have all legal aspects covered to ensure our money goes only to the wall,” the Go Fund Me page said.
Romm’s efforts were unsuccessful, but Kolfage thinks his efforts will work because the American people are behind building the wall.
Laura Ingraham asked Kolfage on her The Ingraham Angle show on Fox about critics that claim the campaign is a “publicity stunt.”
“I’d say they’re full of crap,” Kolfage said. “This is the United States, and we can do anything we want. If people want to donate to that wall, they can do it.”
“This is America coming together,” Kolfage said. “They want the wall, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is.”
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