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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Private Jets, AMEX, and Luxury Hotels: What Is DeSantis Spending YOUR Campaign Donations On?
LOOMER: Hey, everybody. Welcome to a new episode of Loomer Unleashed. I'm your host, Laura Loomer. And on today's episode, we're going to take a deep dive into Ron DeSantis’ first FEC report since he filed to run for president in May of 2023. You may have heard that Ron DeSantis’ campaign really isn't going so well. In fact, he is burning through his campaign cash like crazy.
LOOMER: Since filing to run for president, Ron DeSantis posted his fundraising numbers that show that in the first fundraising quarter since filing, he raised $20 million. However, if you look at these expenditure reports, you'll see that Ron DeSantis has already burned through $8 million of campaign cash, which equates to a burn rate of roughly $1.5 million per week in the five weeks since he filed to run until the July 1st fundraising reports were due.
LOOMER: Why does this matter? Well, it matters because that means that Ron DeSantis only has $12 million of campaign funds left. And when you look at the fact that $3 million of those campaign funds are earmarked for the general election because they are double max donations and can only be used if he wins the primary against Donald Trump. Ron DeSantis technically only has $9 million available on hand that he can utilize for the duration of his presidential campaign.
LOOMER: And this is causing quite a problem for Ron DeSantis because his fundraising numbers thus far are not indicative of a candidate that has the ability to fundraise for the long haul all throughout the duration of the GOP primary, especially for key caucus states like Iowa, where the caucus is going to be taking place in January of 2024 with a burn rate of $1.5 million per week, Ron DeSantis would need an additional $42 million cash on hand if he was hoping to spend at this current rate all the way until the Iowa caucus.
LOOMER: And given the fact that Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers are dwindling on a national level every single day, with Donald Trump taking a 40 point lead in national polls, it doesn't look like Ron DeSantis is going to be raking in millions of dollars that he desperately needs if he's wanting to continue his presidential campaign. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, ‘”Holy hell, how does somebody spend $8 million without running a single TV ad in five weeks?”
LOOMER: Well, I went through Ron DeSantis’ first FEC report with a fine tooth comb. And I'm here to show you some of the most outrageous and most absurd expenditures that Ron DeSantis had on his FEC report. Let's take a look. Now, if you look at the $20 million that Ron DeSantis raised for his campaign, only $2.9 million of those funds came from small grassroots donors whose donations were under $200.
LOOMER: Why does this matter? Because if you take a look at his FEC report, you'll see that majority of his donations came from large, high dollar Wall Street type donors. With the average donation being 1200 dollars. That is not indicative of a grassroots campaign. If you look at the $35 million that Donald Trump raised in this fundraising period, his average donation was $34 because most of President Trump's donations came from grassroots small donors.
LOOMER: Now, you're probably wondering what on earth did Ron DeSantis spend $8 million of his campaign money on in five weeks? Well, here are the reports. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign spent $867,583 on media placements. And then they spent an additional $730,497 on direct mail, postage. Do you remember when Ron DeSantis had the genius idea of launching his presidential bid on a failed Twitter space with Elon Musk?
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LOOMER: Yeah, well, I was there for that to report on it live on the ground. And I'll tell you what an absolute dud it was. It turns out that it was actually an investor meeting. Yeah. His donors refer to themselves as investors and walk around with investor badges because they are hoping, right, to get some type of return on their investment.
LOOMER: Whereas people who support Donald Trump are campaign donors. It's just further evidence that Ron DeSantis is trying to sell the White House and sell access to his campaign. Because what do you expect? If you invest in something, you expect a financial return on your investment? And so when Ron DeSantis had this fancy elitist donor kickoff, he had it at the Four Seasons Resort in Miami on Brickell Avenue, which happens to be one of the most expensive hotels in Miami, Florida.
LOOMER: And what did that end up costing? Well, if you look at the FEC report, you'll find over $280,000 in payments that were made to the Four Seasons in Miami, where DeSantis had his campaign kickoff. But it doesn't end there. Other receipts on the FEC report show that he spent over $28,000 on donor mementos. What are donor mementos? Well, those are gifts that you give to donors.
LOOMER: So not only is Ron DeSantis spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on these fancy getaways for the weekend, where his donors are sipping champagne and eating five star meals and raising money for the governor. But he's also spending tens of thousands of dollars on gifts for these donors. So if you happen to be a grassroots donor who donated money to Ron DeSantis, this is where your money's going.
LOOMER: Some of the more concerning expenditures on Ron DeSantis FEC report come in the form of payments that were made to pay off his American Express credit card. Now, the FEC has very strict guidelines when it comes to how you can report credit card expenditures. You're actually supposed to have an itemized list of every single purchase that was made on the credit card so that you're not just going on wild shopping sprees and writing it off as a credit card payment.
LOOMER: But if you look at Ron DeSantis’ expenditure form, you'll find one payment that was made on June 13th to American Express to pay off a credit card for the amount of $175,589.20. Then ten days later, on June 23rd, there's another American Express credit card payment for $148,347.66. And then on May 26, there is another American Express, very large credit card payment for the amount of $99,218.32.
LOOMER: So this is absolutely absurd. Ron DeSantis has over $425,000 worth of American Express credit card payments that aren't even itemized the way they're supposed to be legally itemized, according to the FEC on his FEC expenditure form. So it really makes you wonder, what did Ron DeSantis spend $425,000 of donor money on through his American Express credit card? Is Ron DeSantis paying off his personal credit card bills with his campaign funds?
LOOMER: Is his wife going on crazy lucrative shopping sprees? We will never know. And unfortunately, that just leaves room for speculation since Ron DeSantis has decided to skirt FEC laws and improperly report his Amex credit card payments, another expenditure on Ron DeSantis, his report shows that he spent over $21,000 on campaign apparel. This is not what you call a grassroots campaign, and as Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers continue to plummet, it has his very large national donor base asking questions about whether or not his campaign is sustainable given the current burn rate.
LOOMER: Well, what is Ron DeSantis now doing to address his donors’ concerns about his extreme burn rate? Well, you guessed right, he's spending more of their money. Recent reports show that Ron DeSantis spent an additional $87,000 of his campaign funds to host a swanky donor retreat and investor appreciation dinner at a Utah resort called the Stein Erikson Lodge. This type of luxury is indicative of how Ron DeSantis is running his campaign, and that's with absolute total disregard for the average middle class working American who can't afford to live their life in luxury.
LOOMER: According to his FEC reports, Ron DeSantis and his wife have also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars flying on private jet while they jet set around the country pretending like they're going to be the next president and first lady of the United States of America. Is this somebody who you really think is going to run our country responsibly if Ron DeSantis can't even run a lean and mean campaign and doesn't know how to save his campaign cash and run things on a budget?
LOOMER: How does he expect to run our country? Is he going to drive our country into trillions of dollars more debt? While I was sleuthing to Ron DeSantis’ FEC report and looking into this swanky high dollar investor retreat that he just had in Utah this last weekend, I came across this Instagram video that was posted by DeSantis’ high dollar Bundler Brooke Waltzer.
LOOMER: Brooke and her husband are all over social media bragging about how wealthy they are and how they're so proud to be raising tons of money for Ron DeSantis. But being braggadocious is a double edged sword because it looks like Brooke revealed too much information in her Instagram posts. Brooke Waltzer admitted that the campaign is essentially committing illegal coordination with the Never Back Down Pro Ron DeSantis Super PAC, which is highly illegal.
LOOMER: Her Instagram post reads “Lots of one on one time with governor to exchange ideas. Spent time with the super PAC, Never Back Down to learn about the campaign boots on the ground and fundraising strategy and needs.” Well, if this is true and Brooke indeed spent time with Ron DeSantis and then also spent time with officials and paid employees from the Never Back Down super PAC discussing Ron DeSantis’ campaign and his campaign strategy and his campaign's fundraising needs.
LOOMER: That is an admission to illegal coordination between a super PAC and a campaign which is highly illegal. And as nauseating as Brooke’s social media posts and the video that she posted along with some cheesy EDM music may be it sheds light into the mentality of the donor class and the type of person that is supporting Ron DeSantis in his presidential campaign.
LOOMER: These are not people that care about the needs of the everyday, hardworking American. You can see they don't really care about the fact that our country is in decline. No, they're just having a grand old time eating baked Alaska, beef tenderloin, and sipping champagne at a swanky Utah resort. And who else happened to be in attendance? Well, it looks like Congressman Chip Roy from Texas also decided to jet set to Utah, where he spent the weekend with DeSantis donors and investors.
LOOMER: It really makes you wonder, do any of our elected officials actually work anymore? Ron DeSantis is an absentee governor. You see that he's not really concerned about the issues facing Floridians, whether it be the insurance crisis or the upcoming hurricane season that is likely to devastate thousands of homeowners here in Florida. No, he's not really focused on that because he would rather have parties with his donors and investors at Utah Resorts that cost tens of thousands of dollars, something that your average American can't even dream of doing in their lifetime.
LOOMER: And these leaked images, Instagram posts, and videos out of Ron DeSantis’ donor retreat this weekend show that Ron DeSantis is the last thing that we need as president of the United States of America. The American people on both sides of the political aisle are sick and tired of the elitist donor class controlling our politicians and purchasing access to our politicians and the White House.
LOOMER: The American people want a leader and a president like Donald Trump who is going to put the American people first and not sell us out to the donor class. Given Ron DeSantis’ current burn rate, it's unclear how he plans on running a full blown presidential campaign for the duration of the GOP presidential primary. But as we have seen, there is no shortage of elitist millionaire and billionaire anti-Trump establishment GOP donors who are more than happy to piss their money away if it means trying to stop Donald Trump from securing the second term that was stolen from him and the second term that he rightfully deserves and is entitled to.
LOOMER: Time will tell if Ron DeSantis is able to successfully reboot his campaign, as he said he plans on doing, and whether or not he will be able to raise enough campaign cash to carry out his campaign all the way till the end of the GOP primary. But one thing that is certain and one thing that I will promise you is regardless of how much money Ron DeSantis is able to raise, I will be here every single reporting period with my fine tooth comb to go through Ron DeSantis FEC reports and tell you the American people what Ron DeSantis is wasting his donor money on.
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