FACT CHECK: Did Trump campaign email supporters asking for donations to ‘help him recover’ from COVID-19?

Brad Sylvester, DCNF

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows an email President Donald Trump’s campaign sent to supporters asking for donations to “help him recover from this disease.”

Verdict: False

The Daily Caller News Foundation didn’t find any record of the Trump campaign sending such an email. A spokesperson for the campaign confirmed it is fake.

Fact Check:

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, the president announced on Twitter early Friday morning. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters later on Friday that the president was experiencing “mild symptoms,” according to NBC News.

The image being shared attempts to suggest that the Trump campaign started using the situation to fundraise. It shows what appears to be an email from the official Trump campaign asking for donations to “help him recover from this disease.” It goes on to state that “it is only fair that since he has sacrificed millions of dollars to serve as your president” and mentions a goal of raising $421 million.

However, the email appears to be a hoax. Such a fundraising email would likely warrant media coverage, yet no news reporting confirming the alleged email could be found. The DCNF searched an archive of political emails from the Trump campaign and found nothing resembling the alleged email circulating on Facebook.

“The email is fake,” confirmed Abigail Marone, a spokesperson for the campaign, in an email to the DCNF.

The fake email’s stated goal of raising $421 million suggests that the email was created in jest. On Sept. 27, The New York Times published an extensive report about the president’s personal finances which, among other things, concluded that “he is personally responsible for loans and other debts totaling $421 million.”

https://www.facebook.com/sabrina.mcdaniel.129/posts/4393133977423587

Posted by Sabrina Mcdaniel on Friday, October 2, 2020

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