‘It never happened.’ Exxon says of Trump’s hypothetical fundraising call
ExxonMobil clarified that a hypothetical fundraising call outlined by President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Monday “never happened.”
The president boasted his fundraising abilities during a rally in Arizona, saying he could be the “greatest fundraiser in history” and all he would have to do is “call up the head of every Wall Street firm, the head of every major company, the head of every major energy company” and ask them to donate $10 million to his campaign.
President Trump boasts about his fund-raising abilities, saying he could call up the head of Exxon for a donation. Exxon later says: "Just so we’re all clear, it never happened." https://t.co/V3LbGisjj8 pic.twitter.com/nCVOhDctHR
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) October 20, 2020
But Trump then said he doesn’t “want to do that.”
“I would take in more money,” he said. “But you know what? I don’t want to do that because, if I do that, I’m totally compromised.”
He went on to describe a hypothetical call with the CEO of ExxonMobil, an oil and gas corporation.
“So I call some guy, the head of Exxon. I call the head of Exxon: ‘Hi how you doing, how’s energy coming? When are you doing the exploration? Oh, you need a couple permits huh? Okay,’” the president said. “But I call the head of Exxon, I say ‘You know, I’d love you to send me $25 million for the campaign.’ ‘Absolutely sir, why didn’t you ask? Would you like some more?’”
ExxonMobil later emphasized the call was hypothetical.
“We are aware of the President’s statement regarding a hypothetical call with our CEO…and just so we’re all clear, it never happened,” the company tweeted.
Soliciting campaign contributions in exchange for policy favors is prohibited under federal law.
Trump again said after outlining the hypothetical call that he doesn’t want to do it.
“If I made the call, I will hit a home run every single call,” he said. “I would raise a billion dollars in one day if I wanted to. I don’t want to do that. I don’t wanna do it.”
The president has been trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden — who has been surpassing fundraising records — in money raised and in the polls.
At a Saturday rally in Wisconsin, Trump again said he could be the greatest fundraiser in history if he tried but said he didn’t want to make the calls and didn’t need the money, the Associated Press reports.
