On GoFundMe, Trump's supporters raise whopping $14mn for border wall
United States President Donald Trump wants $5bn for the US-Mexico border wall, which was a key promise of his campaign. And while his demand got staunch opposition from Democrats in the House, leading to a shutdown of US government, his supporters have started a GoFundMe campaign to collect money to make 'borders safe'. The move, however, stems from xenophobia, believe human rights activists.
Before Trump gets money, he needs votes in Senate
The House approved money to fund the wall but before President Trump gets his hands on it, he needs to get 60 votes in Senate. The Republicans have only 51 seats there. Throughout his campaign for the Presidency, Trump spoke about the wall and after that reiterated Mexico would pay for it. But looks like now Trump's supporters have come to his rescue.
Meet the man who started the GoFundMe campaign
The campaign was started by a Florida veteran, Brian Kolfage. At the time of press, the campaign called 'We The People Will Fund The Wall' had collected little over $14mn. The goal is $1bn. About the page, which started earlier this week, Kolfage said, "People put their money where their mouth is and they're standing up and that's why it exploded so fast."
If campaign fails, Kolfage will return the money
Kolfage, who served in Iraq and whose right-wing Facebook group was pulled down, said if 63 million people who voted for Trump donated $80 each, then Trump's target of $5bn could be achieved easily. But the donations haven't been this static. The donations range from $5 to $500. Notably, Kolfage said if the campaign fails to collect $1bn, he'll return the money.
Americans are frustrated, claims Kolfage
The frustration that Trump's signature campaign remained unfulfilled led to Kolfage starting this exercise. He said, "Americans are frustrated with the way things are going and politicians holding us all hostage." On the fundraiser page, Kolfage mentioned his time in war and slammed political leaders. He wrote, "They'd rather see President Trump fail than see America succeed."
