Trump only spent a few thousand of his own money on his 2020 campaign. The vast majority came from donors, including big money donors, corporations, a few huge law firms, etc.
This “Trump is independent because he’s a billionaire” line is utter garbage. In 2020 he was backed by big donors just like any other pol. Look it up at the FEC website.
To all those who spout the “Trump is beholden to no one because he’s rich” line, do you listen to yourselves? All else equal I’d much rather be governed by a man who grew up middle class and made it to Harvard on a scholarship, than by the son of a multi-millionaire who made it into a billion or so and has no idea how average people live.
Freepers used to admire self-made men; now they want their presidents to be billionaires. Amazing.
Freepers used to admire self-made men; now they want their presidents to be billionaires. Amazing.
What’s amazing is how ridiculous that statement is. DeSantis is a self-made man? What are you smoking? DeSantis is no more a self-made man than Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, or any other career politician. And your false choice between self-made men and billionaires is just that.
It used to be we judged a man on what he did with his life, not the circumstances he was born into. So Trump was born into a wealthy family. Big deal. Unlike a lot of trust fund babies, Trump took the leg up his family fortune gave him and did something with it, building his company far beyond what it ever was under his father.
As far as DeSantis being a self-made man, I’m surprised you were able to type that with a straight face. DeSantis had little money to speak of before he entered politics. Now he has a war-chest worth millions of dollars to spend on his campaign. Where do you think that money comes from? Unlike Trump, self-financing his campaign isn’t an option. And DeSantis can’t rely on small, individual donors to the degree Trump can. Your “self-made man” gets most of his campaign cash through wealthy donors and is more dependent on them than Trump has ever been.
The thing is that Trump won in 2016 by speaking the language of the forgotten working Americans. In 2020, it sounded more like it was about him, and the turmoil that marked his administration scared off a lot of suburban voters who had put him in office in 2016.