In the backdrop of Hurricane Irma, Donald Trump tries to raise money – for himself

| 2:11 am EDT September 10, 2017
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In the wake of Hurricane Harvey and the resulting floods, Donald Trump announced he would personally donate a million dollars to charity. Then the story changed, such that he might have been donating the money from his phony Trump Foundation charity. None of it went over particularly well. So as Hurricane Irma prepares to make landfall in the United States, Trump tried a different angle – asking Americans to donate money to him.

In an incredible development, Donald Trump sent out a text message to his supporters on Saturday, which read “DJT: “I fight for America. The career politicians and the FAKE NEWS will not stop us! WATCH my new ad and DONATE so more Americans see the TRUTH!” A copy of the text message was first posted online by Kyle Griffin, producer for Lawrence O’Donnell’s MSNBC show. Here’s what it looked like:

It once again raises the question of just what Donald Trump is raising money for. He’s held a number of campaign rallies since taking office, and the money is technically going into a fund for his 2020 reelection campaign. But he’s not running any reelection campaign yet. At one point he was caught using the “reelection” funds to pay his son’s legal bills. Even in the midst of a fearsome hurricane, Trump is still misusing his office to try to line his own pockets – and he’s doing it by attacking the same news outlets that Americans are relying on as we speak for important Hurricane Irma coverage.

We encourage you to donate to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma relief if you’re in a position to do so. You can donate to the Red Cross) or to any number of other hurricane related charities you find worthy.