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Records show that Trump donated to Kamala Harris' campaigns twice while he was a private citizen

President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

  • President Donald Trump contributed $6,000 to Kamala Harris when she was running to be California's attorney general, according to records reviewed by NBC News.

  • Trump donated $5,000 to Harris' campaign in 2011 and $1,000 to her campaign in 2013. He made both donations when he was a private citizen.

  • In a sworn affidavit, Trump said he contributed to Harris at the request of then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

  • The president's history of donating to Harris resurfaced on Tuesday after Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, tapped Harris to be his running mate.

  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump donated to Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice-presidential nominee, twice while she was a candidate for California attorney general, according to public records reviewed by NBC News.

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The records show that Trump donated a total of $6,000 to Harris: $5,000 in 2011 and $1,000 in 2013. He made both donations while he was a private citizen.

The Washington Examiner reported last year that according to an affidavit signed by Trump, he and his daughter Ivanka made the $5,000 donation at the request of then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

"Mr. Schneiderman's former transition committee leader asked my daughter Ivanka if she would arrange for me to make a contribution to a fundraising event sponsored by Mr. Schneiderman for newly elected California Attorney General Kamala Harris," Trump wrote in the affidavit. "In response, I made a $5,000 contribution to Ms. Harris' campaign — the highest level of sponsorship listed in the invitation — and Ivanka attended the event together with some of Trump Org.'s other top executives."

Harris' spokeswoman told The Sacramento Bee that in 2015 she donated the money Trump gave her campaign to a nonprofit group that helps Central Americans.

Trump senior advisor Katrina Pierson told PBS Newshour's Yamiche Alcindor that the president "donated to cnadidates across all aisles," and that she hoped his donation to Harris, as a Black woman, can "squash this racism argument now."

 

Trump's history of donating to Harris — and other Democratic candidates — resurfaced on Tuesday after Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, tapped Harris to be his running mate.

The former vice president's campaign announced the decision in a text message and email to supporters.

"Joe Biden here," the text said. "Big news: I've chosen Kamala Harris as my running mate. Together, with you, we're going to beat Trump."

Trump's 2020 campaign also released a statement on Harris' selection as Biden's running mate.

"Not long ago, Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received," the statement said. "Clearly, Phony Kamala will abandon her own morals in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat Party."

Read the original article on Business Insider