Tonight’s debate offers both parties a prime opportunity to raise some serious money.
As Tia Mitchell and Caleb Groves report, former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her Wall Street husband, Jeff Sprecher, are hosting an event that former President Donald Trump is expected to attend alongside the host of allies jockeying to become his running mate. The minimum requirement to attend is donating or raising at least $10,000 for the GOP ticket.
The Democratic Party of Georgia also has an official watch party in Atlanta where tickets start at $24 for advance purchase. Per Tia and Caleb, those who want to be recognized as “BFD” donors (a reference to President Joe Biden’s spicy hot-mic moment at the signing of the Affordable Care Act) will need to shell out $2,400.
Earlier this week, Trump revved up a fundraising effort that seeks to capitalize off his booking at the Fulton County jail last year. As he sought to sell a $47 coffee mug featuring a photoshopped mugshot, Trump said he was “tortured” at the jail last August when he had his mug shot taken.
The claim that has no evidence to back it up – Trump was in and out of the jail in less than 20 minutes and law enforcement by all accounts went out of its way to speed things along – but it comes as he seeks to rally his base ahead of the GOP convention.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens pushed back against Trump’s torture claim in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
“My understanding (is) he was only there for a little while. He couldn’t have been tortured,” Dickens said of Trump’s booking at the jail. “...This is the type of thing that we get with him: more lies, exaggeration.”
This was originally published on our Live Updates page.
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