In recent days, some customers of the Equinox and SoulCycle fitness chains — including high-profile celebrities such as model and actress Chrissy Teigen — threatened boycotts of the businesses after learning that the chairman of their parent company planned a Hamptons fundraiser on Friday for Trump.
Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, meanwhile, has faced intense criticism from Trump and other Republicans after he tweeted the names and employers of more than three dozen of his San Antonio constituents who gave the $2,800 maximum donation to Trump this year for the primary election.
The uproar is raising fresh questions about donor disclosure and underscores the risks businesses and individuals face with their political giving — particularly in an era in which the President himself has become a polarizing figure.
“In a world where every day people increasingly feel powerless to business … this is one of a few ways where consumers really have a lot of power,” said Jeremy Robinson-Leon, president of Group Gordon, a New York strategic communications firm.
And social media amplifies it, he said. “Consumers feel, ‘I can not only vote with my dollars, but I can vote with my voice by being part of the chorus that is speaking up for something I believe in.’ “
Castro’s tweet followed a mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart that left 22 dead. He said the donors had “fueled a campaign of hate” by supporting Trump.
The President has repeatedly used the word “invasion” to describe Latino immigrants who enter the United States, and authorities say alleged gunman posted a manifesto that warned of a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas shortly before he opened fire in El Paso.
Donald Kuyrkendall, one of the San Antonio donors named in Castro’s tweet, said he backs Trump because he supports his economic policies, including confronting China on trade.
Castro’s “inference that we as donors to the Republican Party and Trump specifically makes us racist and somehow involved in the El Paso shooting is saddening,” he said.
Kuyrkendall said there’s been no real backlash from his friends or clients of his real-estate firm. But Kuyrkendall said he and his wife, who is Latina, now “have concerns” about the safety of their three grandchildren, ages 13 and 6.
“They go to school,” he said. “There’s crazy people out there, in case (Joaquin Castro) doesn’t know that.”
Castro did not immediately respond to an interview request, but he has defended his position in recent days
“My post was a lament that so many people in my overwhelmingly Hispanic hometown would give large money to a President, who is using it to target Hispanics as ‘invaders,’ Castro said this week.
Fuel for conservatives
None of the information Castro tweeted is secret.
The names, occupations and addresses of anyone who donates more than $200 to federal candidates must be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission. (Castro notes that his tweet did not include addresses or other personal information, such as phone numbers.)
But for some conservatives opposed to campaign-finance restrictions, Castro’s action — and the ongoing uproar over billionaire Stephen Ross’ decision to host a Trump fundraiser — offers fresh fuel against providing even more disclosure of political activity.
This week, one of those groups — the Institute for Free Speech — cited Castro’s tweet as another reason to oppose a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled House this year that would require nonprofits active in elections to disclose donors who contribute more than $10,000.
Currently, the names of donors to political non-profits are secret to the public.
Castro’s action “emphasized that disclosure can be abused,” Bradley Smith, the group’s chairman and a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, told CNN. “It’s hard to read Castro’s methods as anything other than ‘go make life miserable for these people.’ “
The disclosure proposal passed the House in March, as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul federal election and ethics laws. But it has little chance in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, has routinely denounced efforts to unmask donors’ identities.
Earlier this year, McConnell called the measure “custom-built to chill the exercise of the First Amendment and give federal bureaucrats — and the waiting left-wing mob — a clearer idea of who to intimidate.”
The Trump administration also has sided with groups that oppose greater disclosure.
Last year, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin decided the IRS would no longer require nonprofits, such as the National Rifle Association, to identify their contributors to federal tax officials.
Late last month, a federal judge in Montana overturned the IRS rule in a case brought by the state of New Jersey and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
But the issue is far from settled.
The Trump administration could still appeal the ruling. And in the months ahead, a years-long battle between the state of California and a nonprofit affiliated with conservative billionaire Charles Koch over access to the group’s donor lists could land before the US Supreme Court.
Privacy versus harassment
Richard Hasen, an expert on election law at the University of California at Irvine, said neither the boycott calls nor Castro tweet appears to cross the line into the “unconstitutional harassment” of donors.
“Being called a bad name on Twitter is not the kind of harassment the Supreme Court was talking about” in allowing exemptions for people who face a real threat of harassment, he said.
But Hasen said the increased availability of donor information over the Internet and social media does raise privacy concerns.
“The Internet has changed the calculus,” he said. “As part of policy, we might well raise the disclosure threshold to $1,000 or $2,000, so people of modest means who are making small contributions don’t get caught up in these strong policy debates in our very polarized society.”
Millions raised
The Hamptons fundraisers do not involve small sums.
The two events the President was slated to attend Friday already have brought in $10 million, according to the Republican National Committee. Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, said the total could hit $12 million.
The money will go to Trump Victory, a joint fundraising arrangement between Trump’s campaign at the RNC. While donors face strict limits on the money they can contribute directly to candidates, they can make six-figure contributions to benefit political parties.
The price tag for the luncheon at the Southampton home of Ross and his jewelry designer wife, Kara Ross, ranges from $100,000 (photo opportunity and lunch) to $250,000 (package that includes a private roundtable with the President), according to an invitation obtained by The Washington Post.
Republican National Committee officials defend the events and denounce the boycotts.
“Whether it’s on liberal college campuses or in their Upper East Side gyms, the left has become obsessed with demonizing and boycotting anyone who disagrees with them,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in statement.
“For people who claim to be tolerant, they sure spend a lot of time calling half the country ‘racists,’ ” she added.
Asked about the controversy Friday morning, Trump praised Ross.
“He likes me. He respects me,” Trump told reporters. And he seemed to indicate the storm would blow over.
“The controversy makes Steve Ross hotter. (He’ll) figure that out in about a week.”
Ross also defended holding the fundraiser but said, in a statement issued Wednesday, said he has disagreed with Trump.
“I’ve known Donald Trump for 40 years, and while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others, and I have never been bashful about expressing my opinions,” Ross said.
The controversy continued, however.
On Thursday, restauranteur Jose Andres, who has clashed with Trump over immigration policy, implored Ross to cancel the fundraiser. “You are a good man,” he wrote on Twitter. “Don’t support a candidate whose goal is to drive my beloved USA apart!”
Ross’ firm is behind the development of Hudson Yards, a high-end Manhattan complex that is home to Andres’ Mercado Little Spain food emporium (along with CNN offices and other tenants).
And Kenny Stills, a wide receiver for the Ross-owned Miami Dolphins, also weighed in, saying the Trump event runs counter to a nonprofit, called RISE, that Ross founded to improve race relations through sports.
“You can’t have a non profit with this mission statement and then open your doors to Trump,” Stills tweeted.
Kuyrkendall, the San Antonio donor, said many of the contributors highlighted in Castro’s tweet are deeply engaged in the civic life of their diverse city. “These people have given and given and shared their wealth with this community,” he said.
Kuyrkendall said he even donated to the mayoral campaign of Julian Castro, Joaquin Castro’s twin brother who is now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Joaquin Castro chairs his brother’s campaign committee.
“They won’t be getting any more money from us,” he said.
