Trump did not ask supporters for $421 million to help him recover from COVID-19

After President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, a fake fundraising email from his re-election campaign started to circulate on social media.

A screenshot of the bogus email, which a reader sent us on Twitter, leads with the news of the positive results for the president and first lady Melania Trump. Then, it pivots to a fundraising plea.

"President Trump would like to ask a favor. Will you please DONATE to help him recover from this disease?" says the email, which was shared by Rev. James Woodall, president of the Georgia NAACP. "It is only fair since he has sacrificed millions of dollars as your President."

(Screenshot from Twitter)

After we reached out for a comment, Woodall replied to the tweeted screenshot with a correction. 

"This is not a legitimate email coming from the Trump campaign. Want to clarify this instead of simply deleting it," he said.

The Trump campaign confirmed to us that the email isn’t real. So did the Republican National Committee.

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stated on October 22, 2024 in social media posts

“Schaumburg, Illinois not recording votes, just putting votes ‘in a box.’”

"That is a fake," RNC spokeswoman Mandi Merritt told PolitiFact in an email.

One clue that the donor plea is not authentic is its request for $421 million. That’s the value of loans and debts that Trump must pay back, according to a New York Times investigation of the president’s tax returns.

The email pitch was fake. We rate it Pants on Fire!

This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here, for more.