How To Write A Bestseller: GOP Spends $95,000 Buying Donald Trump Jr. Book
“Triggered,” the book published early this month by Donald Trump Jr., rocketed to the top of The New York Times bestseller list. But it turned out it had a special boost: The Republican National Committee spent $95,000 buying up the books, according to a campaign finance listing spotted by The New York Times.
Records from the Federal Election Commission reveal a $94,800 payment to BooksAMillion.com for “donor mementos” just days before Trump Jr.’s book was released on Nov. 5. Trump Jr. then joined an RNC fundraising email offering signed copies of the book to anyone who contributed $50 or more to the GOP.
An RNC spokesman confirmed to the Times that the BooksAMillion payment was for copies of “Triggered.”
New FEC disclosures show a single large RNC payment of $94,800 to Books-a-Million in October, a few days before "Triggered" was released. An RNC spokesman confirmed that the expenditure was connected to their promotion of Don Trump Jr.'s book. pic.twitter.com/vsmmsgrYCp
— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) November 21, 2019
The spokesman had insisted earlier to the Times and BuzzFeed that the RNC hadn’t made a bulk purchase of books, and said the committee was simply keeping up with demand. Asked by the Times how a single day’s $95,000 purchase of books didn’t constitute a bulk buy, the spokesman said: “We stand by our statement.”
An RNC spokesman previously told us "We haven’t made a large bulk purchase, but are ordering copies to keep up with demand."
I asked today how that squares with buying almost a hundred grand worth of books on a single day.
Answer: "We stand by our statement."— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) November 21, 2019
Trump Jr.’s book title on the Times bestseller list is marked with a dagger symbol, indicating that a significant percentage of sales came from “institutional, special interest, group, or bulk purchases.”
That designation infuriated Trump Jr. and delighted critics on Twitter. It’s the only one of the top 10 hardcover nonfiction titles on the Times list marked with the bulk purchase symbol.
Trump Jr. insisted in an interview on Fox News last week that the newspaper marks a “lot of conservative books” with the dagger.
“It must have driven them crazy” to list the book, he added. “I guess that’s their way of exerting a little bit of revenge by putting an asterisk without getting into the details.”
#Dagger Means bulk sales of the book! #TriggerDonaldTrumpJr
RNC admits to spending $100K
Can they not cheat on ANYTHING?? #Nope pic.twitter.com/PytitPQlEZ— Susan Paradise (@_SusanParadise_) November 21, 2019
It’s unclear how many books were purchased by the RNC, which is continuing to buy books this month, according to a spokesman.
Times reporter Nick Confessore estimated that the RNC may have purchased 4,000 books, but Trump Jr. himself said on Fox News that the RNC purchased 10,000 copies.
The Washington Post estimated that it could take as few as 5,000 books to win a spot on the Times’ bestseller list.
Merely being listed in the Times as a top seller is a huge promotion for a book. Sales tracker NPD BookScan reported that “Triggered” had sold more than 115,000 copies by this past weekend, according to the Times.
The revelation of the RNC’s big buy comes just weeks after both Trump Jr. and brother Eric slammed Hunter Biden for winning a spot on the board of Ukraine energy company Burisma simply, they charged, because his father was vice president at the time. Twitter wits couldn’t help but notice the irony.
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Pretty easy to become a "bestselling author" when your DAD directs the RNC, which he controls, to buy your book. These are the people are talking about Hunter Biden?
— REDACTED Human Scum (@mrshellwinger) November 22, 2019
Jr, using his dad’s position to finesse the art of the grift. But he wants us to be outraged about Hunter Biden. Self awareness continues to elude him.
— LuvMyRaiders 💋❤️ 🇺🇸🇬🇧 (@BritishRaider69) November 22, 2019
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