| Dear Katy, Donald Trump's businesses only survived because he routinely refused to pay contractors and repeatedly declared bankruptcy to escape paying his bills. Now his campaign is doing the same thing. The Trump campaign owes well over $1 million to American cities for extra costs associated with campaign rallies. Trump's visits force cities to spend extra for security and police overtime to protect his hate-mongering road show, and his campaign repeatedly refuses to reimburse cities for the cost.1 Trump's refusal to pay his bills fits a long pattern of exploiting taxpayers and his employees – and we need to make sure it gets media attention by putting pressure on his campaign to repay American cities. Tell the Trump campaign: Pay your bills. Click here to sign the petition. Trump's campaign events are cesspools of hatred – chants of "lock her up" and "send her back," racist slurs and threats against protestors – that resemble hate-group rallies more than they do traditional campaign events. On top of it all, they also cost American cities tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Each time Trump comes to town, cities have to shell out extra money for infrastructure, security and police overtime – and the Trump campaign never pays them back.2 Trump owes El Paso alone $569,000 for his rally following the horrific shooting there earlier this year. His campaign owes $530,000 to Minneapolis, $211,000 to Albuquerque, $84,000 to Tucson, $65,000 to Spokane, and between $8,000 and $64,000 to other cities across the country. The unpaid debt pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions his campaign is raking in from corporate interests and Wall Street financiers, and it will only grow as we move into 2020.3 In Minnesota, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey attempted to take a stand and demand the Trump campaign pay upfront for the extra costs associated with his visit. The campaign lashed out, accusing him of being a leftist member of the resistance, and Trump took to Twitter to attack him.4 Unpaid bills are part of a larger pattern. Trump spent decades routinely refusing to pay contractors for their work on his buildings, exploited undocumented workers and repeatedly declared bankruptcy to get out of paying his bills.5 Now, his administration neglects low-wage contractors who went unpaid during his shutdown, hounds young people with student debt and gifts billionaires huge tax cuts. We need to put a glaring spotlight on Trump's disgusting exploitation by demanding his campaign stop taking advantage of cities across the country. Tell the Trump campaign: Pay your bills. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Trump-campaign-unpaid-bills?t=9&akid=34954%2E12967895%2EA5fAkD Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Philip Bump, "The Trump campaign has over $1 million in outstanding bills from American cities," The Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2019.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Quint Forgey, "Minneapolis mayor reveals what it feels like to become Trump's target," POLITICO, Oct. 10, 2019.
- Tina Nguyen, "Trump Accused of Routinely Stiffing His Own Employees," Vanity Fair, June 10, 2016.
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