From free planes to crypto meme coins, Democrats seize on Trump’s deals to raise corruption concerns
CNN
Democrats are leaning into a corruption argument against President Donald Trump, pointing to his crypto meme coin and plans to accept a luxury jet from Qatar as evidence that the president is potentially violating ethical norms and the US Constitution.
Democrats are leaning into a corruption argument against President Donald Trump, pointing to his crypto meme coin and plans to accept a luxury jet from Qatar as evidence that the president is potentially violating ethical norms and the US Constitution. In floor speeches and interviews, on social media and in the skies above Trump’s Florida resort, Democrats have warned that Trump is seeking to enrich himself – even as Republicans advance legislation that could cut programs such as Medicaid and the Department of Government Efficiency scales back the size of the US government. “The first 114 days of this administration have been one bad deal after another for American families,” Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said during a floor speech Wednesday highlighting Trump’s alleged conflicts of interest. “But if your last name is Trump, these 114 days have been just about the greatest deal of all time.” It’s a familiar strategy for Democrats and ethics watchdogs, who criticized Trump during his first term as foreign officials sought to curry favor with the president by staying at his hotels. This time, however, Democrats and ethics groups argue that the potential corruption of the second Trump administration has far surpassed the first term. Tiffany Muller, president of the Democratic-aligned group End Citizens United, said that how Democrats message their anti-corruption arguments will be critical. “Voters don’t know who to trust on this issue, and whoever wins that trust battle will win the election,” Muller said in an interview with CNN. “We have to connect the corruption that we’re seeing day to day back to their everyday lives and then also talk about how Trump and the Republicans are using it to line their own pockets.”
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