President Donald Trump is calling for a “major investigation” over alleged payments to celebrities who endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
Some of the celebrities have publicly denied being paid any fee, and experts say there’s no FEC law barring campaign payments for endorsements.
Among the celebrities Trump suggests were illegally paid for their endorsements include Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé, each of whom appeared at Harris campaign events last year.
Hours ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump took his Truth Social platform on Monday (May 19) to the accused celebrities over unfounded claims that they were paid to endorse Harris, per MSNBC.
“HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT?” Trump wrote. “WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? … AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO???”
“I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter,” he continued. “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment. In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic ‘entertainers,’ this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system.”
Trump further alleged that Beyoncé was paid $11 million for her Houston appearance at Harris’ rally.
“According to news reports, Beyoncé was paid $11,000,000 to walk onto a stage, quickly ENDORSE KAMALA, and walk off to loud booing for never having performed, NOT EVEN ONE SONG!” the president said on Truth Social.
“Remember, the Democrats and Kamala illegally paid her millions of Dollars for doing nothing other than giving Kamala a full throated ENDORSEMENT. THIS IS AN ILLEGAL ELECTION SCAM AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL! IT IS AN ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION! BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, OPRAH, BONO AND, PERHAPS, MANY OTHERS, HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!!