American businessman Perry Johnson is selling $1 T-shirts in order to acquire enough donors to qualify for the Republican presidential debates.
Johnson announced his presidential candidacy in March, though he doesn’t register in most polls. Though his candidacy is considered a significant long shot, the businessman is banking on making it onstage in the Republican presidential debates, where he hopes to win over voters. He has devised a unique strategy for getting onstage — selling $1 T-shirts in order to acquire enough donors to qualify, Politico reported.
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The Republican National Committee’s criteria for making it onstage in the Aug. 23 presidential debates is to have at least 40,000 donors, as well as polling at least 1% in two national polls. Everyone who buys one of Johnson’s $1 T-shirts will qualify as a donor, boosting his fundraising figures.
“The RNC is requiring 40,000 small donors to make the debate stage even though I’m self funding. We plan to be on that stage in Milwaukee but we need a little help!” Johnson wrote on Facebook, with a link to an article on his $1 T-shirt scheme. “Will you chip in a buck?”
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The two GOP front-runners, former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), have already surpassed the funding criteria, while former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have reached it as well, Politico reported. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) appear to have enough name recognition and backers to meet the criteria soon.
Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), and political commentator Larry Elder appear to have some fundraising power but may struggle to obtain enough donors to reach the criteria.
