In a surprising twist of political history, there was a time when Donald Trump financially supported Kamala Harris’s campaign. Long before they were potential adversaries in the race for the U.S. presidency, Trump made two significant contributions to Harris’s campaign for re-election as California\u2019s Attorney General.<\/p>\n
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Years ago, Donald Trump donated $5,000 in September 2011 and another $1,000 in February 2013 to Kamala Harris\u2019s re-election\u00a0campaign. Additionally, Ivanka Trump, his daughter, contributed $2,000 to her campaign in 2014.<\/p>\n
The revelation of these donations resurfaced prominently when Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s team used these contributions to counter claims of racism against him. Katrina Pierson, a senior advisor to Trump’s campaign, highlighted these donations as evidence against such accusations, emphasizing, “I note that Kamala Harris is a Black woman and he donated to her campaign. I hope this helps dispel the argument of racism.”<\/p>\n
Kamala Harris responded by stating that she had redirected Trump\u2019s donations to a nonprofit organization that defends civil and human rights for Central Americans.<\/p>\n
At the time, some speculated on Trump\u2019s motives behind these donations. Loretta Sanchez, Harris\u2019s Democratic opponent, wondered if Trump was trying to influence the state of California\u2019s investigation into Trump University. The now-defunct Trump University faced legal action over allegations of fraudulent practices. Reports suggest that during her tenure, Harris took several actions against Trump University.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign clarified that Harris never solicited donations from Trump and that his contributions did not influence her handling of the investigations involving him.<\/p>\n
Before running for president as a Republican in 2016, Trump had a history of donating to several Democratic figures, including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Andrew Cuomo. However, from 2010 onwards, Trump\u2019s donations shifted almost exclusively to Republican causes, with his support for Harris being a notable exception.<\/p>\n
Between 2011 and 2015, Trump\u2019s donations to Democratic candidates dropped to $8,500, compared to $630,150 given to Republicans during the same period, according to Ballotpedia.<\/p>\n
Despite these past donations, Trump did not hesitate to criticize Harris once she emerged as a significant contender in the Democratic primaries. Trump commented, \u201cI think she\u2019s no better than Joe Biden. She could actually be less competent, which is hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also criticized her handling of immigration issues as Vice President, stating, \u201cShe was in charge of the border. She was the border czar. It\u2019s been the worst it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a campaign rally, Trump mockingly referred to Harris as “Laughing Kamala,” commenting on her demeanor and questioning her mental stability, saying, \u201cHave you ever seen her laugh? She\u2019s crazy. You can tell a lot about people by the way they laugh. No, she\u2019s crazy. She\u2019s nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The journey from donor to adversary highlights the complex and often surprising nature of political alliances and rivalries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":70,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"schema_org_data":"","_extracted_celebrities":"","_extracted_movies":"","_extracted_places":"","_extracted_videos":"","_last_enrichment_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"\n