As Donald Trump fundraises in Ohio today with VP contender J.D. Vance, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:

“J.D. Vance is happily joining Donald Trump’s efforts to sell out the country to ultra-wealthy donors as Trump’s MAGA veepstakes becomes a fundraising competition that puts billionaires ahead of hardworking Americans. Trump is a con man, convicted felon, and fraudster who is parading his VP contenders around for campaign cash from billionaire buddies as they all double down on a disastrous MAGAnomics agenda that rigged the economy for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations at the expense of our middle class. It’s a failed strategy that will backfire when hardworking Americans make Trump and his MAGA minions losers in November.”

Donald Trump’s VP contenders are cozying up to ultra-wealthy donors as Trump continues to put billionaires ahead of hardworking Americans.

Sophia Cai, Axios: “TRUMP tonight is doing a fundraiser in Cleveland, Ohio organized by Sen JD Vance. Tiers go from $3,300 to $250,000, per invite. $25,000 gets you a photo.”

Fox News: “VP hopefuls dueling for dollars as they show off their fundraising clout for Trump”

“As they audition for the role of Donald Trump’s running mate, potential vice presidential nominees are showing off their ability to help the former president raise much-needed campaign cash. Closed-door fundraisers with top-dollar Republican donors appear to be the latest screen test venue for those vying to land on the GOP ticket alongside Trump, joining a list that includes teaming up with the former president at his rallies and showing up at his criminal trial in New York City in support of Trump.”

Politico: “Trump’s vice presidential contenders have been taking aggressive steps to distinguish themselves, such as doing interviews with national news outlets, fundraising for the former president and attending his hush money trial in New York.”

New York Times: “A financial show of force for [Tim] Scott’s group could lift his chances of being selected by Mr. Trump, who has spoken to advisers at Mar-a-Lago about which potential running mates could help the campaign raise money.”

Axios: “Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a top possible VP pick for former President Trump, has spent the past six months lobbying some of the heaviest hitters in Silicon Valley to back Trump.”

Bloomberg: “Tim Scott Leverages Billionaires to Boost Vice-Presidential Bid”

Fox News: “Senator’s fundraising skill could be winning ticket for Trump’s veepstakes”

Trump has no problem selling out the country to the highest bidder, and has repeatedly promised his ultra-wealthy backers political favors while begging for campaign cash.

Washington Post: “Trump makes sweeping promises to donors on audacious fundraising tour”

“By frequently tying the fundraising requests within seconds of promises of tax cuts, oil project infrastructure approvals and other favorable policies and asking for sums more than his campaign and the GOP can legally accept from an individual, Trump is also testing the boundaries of federal campaign finance laws, according to legal experts. […]

“Trump asked oil industry executives to raise $1 billion for his campaign and said raising such a sum would be a ‘deal’ given how much money they would save if he were reelected as president. […]

“Trump has met with an assortment of real estate, legal, finance, oil and other business executives in recent months, according to people familiar with invitation lists. He has often promised agenda items they would like passed as part of his broader fundraising pitch, and sometimes has asked allies to bundle millions or more. […]

“Trump has repeatedly pressured oil magnate Harold Hamm to raise significant money for him, telling Hamm that he is ‘behind’ and ‘needs the money.’ […]

“At the fundraiser [with Big Oil CEOs], he promised to cut taxes on corporations and give oil executives an array of policies they wanted and said he was being outraised by the Democrats and the unions, asking the crowd to ‘be generous, please.’

“‘So give me some of your money,’ he said, drawing laughs. ‘True. I’m begging for your money.’

“At another event, Trump told the group that if they wanted a picture with him and did not have one, then they needed to give more. […]

“Trump has regularly joked with donors and advisers that he doesn’t spend more than 10 minutes with someone if the person doesn’t give $10 million, according to people who have heard the comments. He also has complained about some of his billionaire friends not giving enough.

“In Florida earlier this month, the crowd seemed stunned after Trump offered the stage to anyone who would cut a $1 million check, according to people present. He kept asking people to come forward, according to audio of the event. Then two people took him up on the offer. The limit to contributing to the RNC and the campaign — the entities hosting the event — was less than $1 million.

“At a meeting with financial titans in Palm Beach earlier this year, he asked the group what regulations they viewed as the most onerous, according to a person who attended.”

Trump has already sold out hardworking Americans for wealthy Big Oil and Gas donors.

Rolling Stone: “Oil Industry Licks Its Chops for Potential Trump Win”

Politico: “‘A little bold and gross’: Oil industry writes executive orders for Trump to sign”

Washington Post: “Trump rails against wind energy in fundraising pitch to oil executives”

“‘I hate wind,’ Trump told the executives over a meal of chopped steak at his Mar-a-Lago Club and resort in Florida.”

“Trump’s comments reveal how he is wooing potential donors with his long-standing hostility to wind farms and pledges to halt this form of renewable energy if he returns to office. His stance poses a potential threat to one of the linchpins of America’s clean-energy transition, according to more than a dozen Trump allies, energy experts and offshore wind industry officials.”

Bloomberg: “Donald Trump is the oil and gas industry’s undisputed top pick for the Republican presidential nomination as energy sector donors shower his candidacy with nearly 10 times the amount of money as they gave his challenger Nikki Haley.”

Washington Post: “Trump turns to oil barons to boost his White House bid”

Trump is doubling down on his failed MAGAnomics agenda that puts billionaires and big corporations ahead of hardworking Americans.

Trump: “You’re all people that have a lot of money. … You’re rich as hell. … We’re gonna give you tax cuts.”

Trump: “I will never let the Trump tax cuts … I will never let them be taken away.”

Trump on whether his second term tax policies would echo those of his first term: “Yes, and I’d do even more taxes.”

Bloomberg: “[Trump] intends to center his economic plans on extending and deepening the Republican tax cuts from 2017.”

Vanity Fair: “Donald Trump Wants to Give His Favorite Corporations Another Giant Tax Cut in a Second Term”

Washington Post: “The former president’s closest economic advisers are plotting an aggressive new set of tax cuts to push on the campaign trail and from the Oval Office if he wins a second term. Trump and his advisers have discussed deeper cuts to both individual and corporate tax rates that would build on his controversial 2017 tax law … Trump’s advisers, though, have discussed proposals to make deeper cuts to the overall corporate tax rate, potentially to as low as 15 percent, or to use the revenue from the proposed tariffs to pay a dividend to U.S. households. Further cutting corporate taxes … would primarily benefit large firms.”

Trump’s tax scam gave massive handouts to the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working families.

Forbes: “Trump Tax Cuts Helped Billionaires Pay Less Taxes Than The Working Class In 2018”

Washington Post: “For the first time in history, U.S. billionaires paid a lower tax rate than the working class last year”

CBS News: “Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind”

The Guardian: “They were billed as a ‘middle-class miracle’ but according to a new book Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”