Trump's reelection campaign is fundraising off Soleimani's killing

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If you’re happy about the U.S.’s killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, President Trump’s reelection campaign has a suggestion for how to show it: with a $100 donation to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, the joint fundraising arm of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.

“Thanks to the swift actions of our Commander-in-Chief, Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani is no longer a threat to the United States, or to the world,” reads an email sent to supporters Monday. “Finally, we have a President who will do whatever it takes to protect America at home and abroad. Iran’s Terrorist-in-Chief was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands, including hundreds of Americans in Iraq. He should have been taken out long ago.”

President Trump, and his campaign's Facebook ads. (Photo illustraton: Yahoo News; photos: AP, via Facebook, Getty Images)
President Trump and his campaign's Facebook ads. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP, via Facebook, Getty Images)

The subject line of the email: “President Trump did the right thing.”

Soleimani — the charismatic head of the Quds Force, the special operations and intelligence branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard — was killed by an American drone outside the Baghdad airport on Friday. The White House said Iran “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

Critics, including top Democrats, said that the airstrike was made without congressional authority, escalated tensions in the region and risked provoking war. None of the leading Democratic presidential candidates appears to be using the attack on Soleimani in appeals for donations.

A screengrab showing part of the Trump campaign's email touting Soleimani’s killing. (Yahoo News)
A screengrab showing part of the Trump campaign's email touting Soleimani’s killing. (Yahoo News)

“It’s not surprising that the Corrupt Media is trying to negatively spin this HUGE accomplishment,” the email blast continues. “They’ve taken a short break from falsely covering the Impeachment Scam to paint Qassem Soleimani as a coveted world leader. It’s ridiculous. They can’t stand that President Trump is keeping his promises to put AMERICA FIRST, so they’re trying to SPIN THE TRUTH to get you to turn against him. We know that will never happen, which is why we’re counting on Patriots, like YOU, to step up and publicly support President Trump. Together, let’s show the Lamestream media where REAL AMERICANS stand.”

The email also includes a link to an online petition to “Stand with President Trump.” Those who sign it are redirected to a page asking for donations to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, with a suggested donation of $100.

Similarly, Trump’s reelection campaign placed Facebook ads touting Soleimani’s death — and linking to the same petition and fundraising page.

“Terrorists have NO place in our world,” the Facebook ad reads. “LET PRESIDENT TRUMP KNOW.”

Both the email blast and Facebook ads came before the Trump administration said it had intelligence pointing to an “imminent” threat from Soleimani. When pressed by reporters about the intelligence showing that attacks were “imminent,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to present evidence.

“There’s been much made about this question of intelligence and imminence,” Pompeo said at a briefing at the State Department on Tuesday. “Any time a president makes a decision of this magnitude, there are multitude pieces of information that come before him.”

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