After President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, a fake fundraising email from his re-election campaign started to circulate on social media.
A screenshot of the bogus email, which a reader sent us on Twitter, leads with the news of the positive results for the president and first lady Melania Trump. Then, it pivots to a fundraising plea.
“President Trump would like to ask a favor. Will you please DONATE to help him recover from this disease?” says the email, which was shared by Rev. James Woodall, president of the Georgia NAACP. “It is only fair since he has sacrificed millions of dollars as your President.”
(Screenshot from Twitter)
After we reached out for a comment, Woodall replied to the tweeted screenshot with a correction.
“This is not a legitimate email coming from the Trump campaign. Want to clarify this instead of simply deleting it,” he said.
The Trump campaign confirmed to us that the email isn’t real. So did the Republican National Committee.
“That is a fake,” RNC spokeswoman Mandi Merritt told PolitiFact in an email.
One clue that the donor plea is not authentic is its request for $421 million. That’s the value of loans and debts that Trump must pay back, according to a New York Times investigation of the president’s tax returns.
The email pitch was fake. We rate it Pants on Fire!
This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here, for more.
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
• The image in the tweet is fake.
Statement
Context
a screenshotSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Email from Mandi Merritt, spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, Oct. 2, 2020
Email from the Trump campaign, Oct. 2, 2020
The New York Times, "LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS SHOW TRUMP’S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE," Sept. 27, 2020
The New York Times, "Trump Tests Positive for the Coronavirus," Oct. 2, 2020
Tweet from Rev. James Woodall, Oct. 2, 2020
Tweet from Rev. James Woodall, Oct. 2, 2020
Translations
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