By Clay Jones
Have you talked to a Trump sycophant lately about the border wall? I have. Many of them are arguing that Mexico will pay for the wall, Mexico is currently paying for the wall through the new NAFTA (that’s not how it works), the wall is currently being built, and we need to shut down the government to force Congress to make us pay for the wall.
After their chants of “build the wall,” Trump would ask, “and who’s going to pay for it,” and they’d all reply at his rallies, “MEXICO,” and yet, they’re mad at Democrats for not making them pay for it. But at least they’re not dumb enough to dig into their wallets and bank accounts to donate their money to build the wall we were promised Mexico is going to pay for. Or are they?
They are.
Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran, and triple amputee has created a GoFundMe page to raise money to build Trump’s border wall with Mexico. The goal is $1 billion and within a week he’s already raised $13 million.
Kolfage also operates right-wing websites that engage in conspiracy theories. He ran one called “Freedom Daily” which was sued for defamation in federal court for falsely identifying a Michigan teenager as being responsible for the killing of Heather Heyer, an anti-racist counter-protester at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
It’s unclear how the money can be delivered to the government. Citizens can mail gifts to the United States government but maybe not to specific departments, like Homeland Security. Hopefully, they’re not dumb enough to mail it directly to Donald Trump because he has a bad history with other people’s money. $1 billion will buy a lot of KFC.
Kolfage says, “If the 63 million people who voted for Trump each pledge $80, we can build the wall.” It’s true that would amount to the $5 billion Trump is asking from Congress, but that won’t pay for a 2,000-mile wall. Trump’s first request was $25 billion. Estimates on building the wall have ranged from $21 billion to $70 billion. If Kolfage can maintain the excitement and hatred to maintain the current rate, he’ll raise $1 billion in 571 days. Hell, Trump could be in prison by then confronting a very different kind of wall.
Speaking of costs for the border wall, it’ll be even more expensive after Trump’s tariff war.
The GoFundMe for Trump’s racist wall says, “If we don’t reach our goal or come significantly close we will refund every single penny. We are working on a time frame to achieve.” However, the campaign does not have a termination date or explanation of what might count as “significantly close” to the $1 billion target. He also doesn’t provide information on whom or what entity will receive the money. If you’re really stupid, you can also mail the guy a check.
The donors don’t ask a lot of questions, but they should. If their money is given to the government then it will probably be controlled by Congress where Democrats just took the House. They might take your hate money and give it to Planned Parenthood or even worse, feed some kids.
The holidays can be a depressing time. It’s even more depressing knowing people are donating to a hate campaign at Christmas time. How much would these people have paid to keep Jesus from being born in Bethlehem?
If you’re insisting on throwing your money away at Christmas, or any time really, don’t donate to hate. Give to a worthwhile cause that will actually help people, like St. Jude where they don’t charge families, cancer research, or even a local animal shelter. Wouldn’t that feel a lot better than giving to Trump’s hate vanity project? Oops, I forgot. These people are like Trump. They don’t give to charities.
The hate and racism these people have to contribute to this campaign at Christmas time, in addition to their stupidity, is a greater danger to America than immigrants.
