Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) flatly declared Wednesday that any ethical concerns over Donald Trump looking to use his memecoin to profit off from his presidency are unfounded because the president is so rich that “nobody believes” that he “can be bought.”
“What does Donald Trump need more money for?” a credulous Hawley rhetorically asked during a CNN interview.
Even before Trump was offered a $400 million luxury jet by the Qatari royal family, which critics have claimed violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, the president had come under fire for planning two lavish cryptocurrency-focused dinners — one of which costs $1.5 million per plate to attend.
Meanwhile, foreign investors have jumped at the opportunity to buy up the president’s $TRUMP, a so-called memecoin that Trump launched just as he entered the White House in January. Some of these foreign companies have explicitly stated that they’ve purchased the president’s cryptocurrency in an effort to gain influence with the president.
In fact, just this week, the New York Times reported that a small Chinese technology company with just eight employees and no revenue announced its plans to purchase $300 million of the president’s memecoin. Considering that Trump and his family control 80 percent of the memecoin supply, almost all of that money would flow into their pockets.
During an appearance on CNN’s Inside Politics, Hawley was first pressed by anchor Manu Raju on whether he was comfortable with the president receiving the “palace in the sky” from Qatar. While the Republican lawmaker repeatedly said he would prefer that the president’s plane “be made in the United States in America,” he wouldn’t specifically call for Trump to reject the Qatari government’s offer.
“So, should he just say no, or do you think he should accept it?” Raju wondered.
“I would say, listen, we‘re going to get our jets in America. We‘re great at building stuff. We‘re going to build our own stuff,” Hawley replied, ducking the question. “But to our friends in Qatar, I would say, hey, listen, we‘d love for you to help us with some things. Let‘s start with the Islamic terrorist problem.”
Raju then pointed out that Republicans had been quick to accuse Joe Biden and his family of “trying to profit off of his presidency,” wondering if the senator had the same concerns that Trump could be doing the same thing now that he’s back in the White House.
“No. And I think those two things are completely apples and oranges that you just mentioned, Manu. It wasn‘t just accusations. It was absolute facts,” the Missouri lawmaker declared before listing off many of the GOP’s allegations about the “Biden crime family.” (In the end, a Republican-led House committee was unable to provide enough evidence to back an impeachment of Biden over claims of bribery and foreign influence peddling.)
“What about this memecoin?” Raju followed up. “You know, when that price goes up, it helps his family.”
Hawley, meanwhile, insisted that there was absolutely nothing to be concerned about.
“Well, listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought,” the senator asserted. “I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for? I think Donald Trump is pretty focused on strengthening the United States of America. I think it‘s great that these other countries now want to get close to America again. I would just say, let the president go out there and do what‘s best for the American people‘s interests.”
To his credit, Raju pressed the “populist” lawmaker one more time, asking him if he thought the president could be selling access to the White House with the memecoin, which has alarmed ethics experts over the conflicts of interest it’s generated. According to Hawley, though, the president’s wealth meant that he was incorruptible.
“No, I don‘t see any evidence of that,” he reacted. “And again, I mean, does anybody actually believe that Donald Trump needs more money or can be bought by money? I mean, the guy is rich. He‘s a billionaire. He‘s proud of it. He talks about it all the time. That‘s never been his focus – money.”
By Wednesday afternoon, Hawley’s assertion that the president can’t be bought and isn’t looking to profit from his office simply because he’s already rich sparked backlash and mockery, particularly among progressives and liberals.
“Ah yes, people with the drive to accumulate vast amounts of money just switch off that desire once they get to a specific point. Well-known phenomenon,” Ford School policy professor Don Moynihan snarked on social media.
“It’s complete bullsh*t but he’s saying it because dumb people believe it,” The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer observed.
