Can this GoFundMe campaign really raise $1 billion for Trump’s border wall?
UPDATE 12/21/18, 6:30 a.m. CST: As of Friday morning, the “We The People Will Fund The Wall” GoFundMe had raised $11,055,440.
UPDATE: The donations continue to pour in. As of 7:05 a.m. CST Thursday, the “We The People Will Fund The Wall” GoFundMe campaign had raised $3,078,423.
Don’t answer that question “No” without visiting the fundraiser site first.
As President Donald Trump is said to be mulling “other options” for funding his border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, according to the Associated Press, a dark horse arises on the internet.
A GoFundMe campaign popped up Sunday, hoping to raise funds for Trump’s proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico, which isn’t news in and of itself. There are plenty of those around.
But the organizers of this campaign are so encouraged that they’ve raised more-than $700,000 in just three days that they’ve bumped their original goal of $200 million up to a cool billion.
The GoFundMe organizer is listed as triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, who lost both legs and his right arm in a blast at Balad Air Force Base in Iraq in 2004, according to the Arizona Daily Star. The fundraiser is titled, “We the people will fund the wall.”
The contact listing for the organizer says “The Wall Funding Team” is located in Miramar, Fla.
“As a veteran who has given so much, 3 limbs, I feel deeply invested to this nation to ensure future generations have everything we have today,” Kolfage wrote in the GoFundMe campaign description. “Too many Americans have been murdered by illegal aliens and too many illegals are taking advantage of the United States taxpayers with no means of ever contributing to our society.
“I have grandparents who immigrated to America legally, they did it the correct way and it’s time we uphold our laws, and get this wall BUILT! It’s up to Americans to help out and pitch in to get this project rolling.”
Multiple studies and reports have shown, though, that illegal immigrants commit crime, violent or nonviolent, at lesser rates than do native-born Americans.
Kolfage’s GoFundMe campaign was listed as the “Top fundraiser” on the front page of the crowd-sourced social fundraising website as of Wednesday afternoon, despite Kolfage’s claims that the platform was trying to hide his fundraiser from potential donors.
Kolfage’s Facebook page, where he posts content relevant to his conservative political beliefs, has more than 90,000 followers.
“We have contacted the Trump Administration to secure a point of contact where all funds will go upon completion,” the campaign says. “When get this information secured we will update. We have many very high level contacts already helping.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 12:45 PM.
