Great America PAC just dropped $1 million on a TV ad touting Donald Trump as a "unifier." What's important is not the disingenuousness of the message, but the source. It's a super PAC ad.
And Donald Trump claims to disavow all super PACs.
In October he said: "I am self-funding my campaign and therefore I will not be controlled by the donors, special interests and lobbyists who have corrupted our politics and politicians for far too long. I have disavowed all super PAC's, requested the return of all donations made to said PAC's, and I am calling on all presidential candidates to do the same."
Has he disavowed Great America PAC? His campaign says yes, but can't prove it. The Wall Street Journal reported:
Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, said the campaign had “disavowed this and all PACs.” He said the campaign had sent a cease-and-desist order to the super PAC, but declined to provide a copy.
Jesse Benton, the group’s fundraiser and a longtime aide to Mr. Paul, said the super PAC had received no such letter and hadn’t been contacted by the campaign other than being asked to change its name from TrumPAC, on the grounds the Trump name is trademarked.
While some big Republican donors are spending money to stop Trump, Great America appears poised to be the home for Trump-friendly millionaires. Politico reports: "Great America PAC has received contributions from Bill Doddridge, the CEO of the Jewelry Exchange, though it is expected to soon announce the support of other big GOP donors."
And Trump is going to need that super PAC cash. As I have previously noted, Trump is not very liquid. He does not have enough cash to self-fund a general election campaign.
He can nominally disavow super PACs all he wants, whether or not it's sincere. But if he *shudder* actually became president, the plain fact is it will be with the help of super PACs and their fat-cat donors. He will be as bought as any other politician, which is exactly what he is.
