Donald Trump’s candidacy has electrified ordinary Americans and puzzled pundits. Once thought to be a novelty candidate, his plainspoken approach and promise to make America Great Again has kept him at the top of the polls month after month. He has poked holes in the resumes of career politicians akd knocked off frontrunner after frontrunner. Despite that success, Trump hasn’t received many key endorsements. ‘
Until now.
Shaun McCutcheon, an engineer from Hoover and Republican Party activist, is the founder of the Conservative Action Fund, a super PAC started in 2010 as a vehicle to support conservative candidates across the country. This year, the group has expanded to rally support for Trump through email lists that solicit donations that the Conservative Action Fund then sends to Trump’s campaign. The latest solicitation raised more than $10,000 for Trump, according to McCutcheon.
He told AL.com that Conservative Action Fund isn’t like the billionaire Koch brothers’ network of donors or other super PACs that raise millions of dollars for campaigns. He said his group asks for small donations – no more than $100 – to help Trump offset costs like credit card fees and printing so all contributions go directly to the campaign. In the first six months of this year, Conservative Action Fund made more than $95,000 in contributions to candidates, or nearly all of the $93,000 it raised during that period, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Trump has criticized super PACs for having undue influence on the candidates they support, and has argued that voters won’t have concerns about what interests he’s beholden to because he’s self-financing his campaign. But McCutcheon, who successfully sued the FEC in a case involving individual contribution limits, said super PACs like his aren’t the problem.
“Obviously we don’t agree with that. I don’t think Trump understands super PACs,” said McCutcheon, who also represents District 46 in the Alabama Republican Party and is on the party’s Jefferson County Steering Commiteee. “They’re independent and they’re free speech under the First Amendment. It’s free speech, its apple pie, its America.”
McCutcheon’s landmark victory at the Supreme Court removed onerous restrictions on free speech and political expression. Since then, McCutcheon’s PAC Conservative Action Fund has provided a voice to everyday Americans and a platform to speak about the issues they care about and challenge the political establishment. It’s easy to see why McCutcheon would support Trump, an outsider who promises conservative solutions to shake up the status quo.
AAN Staff
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