It’s no big surprise that the Donald Trump campaign has done some weird things. From nasty tweets directed at the pope to a “Wall of Shame” with pictures of the other GOP candidates (updated as they dropped out) to his bizarre speeches, we’ve come to expect the unexpected when it comes to The Donald.
Much has been made of Trump’s “self-funded” campaign and his recent push for donations but it’s his spending that’s really interesting. For example, those hats he loves cost him over $207, 000 a month. Also in May, Trump spent $35,000 at “Draper Sterling,” supposedly a web advertising firm but sounds more like the firm from the TV show, Mad Men.
Trump’s campaign staff in May was very small yet he somehow managed to rack up about the same in hotel bills — just shy of $300,000 — as Hillary Clinton’s staff of 700+. Those room service meals really add up.
But, perhaps the oddest expenditure was the over $55,000 the campaign spent at Barnes & Noble. Now, we all know that Trump is not a big reader so what could he possibly have bought? The Internet abhors a vacuum, as we all know, and was quick to make suggestions. The Daily Beast‘s Olivia Nuzzi tweeted out:
The Trump campaign spent $55,055 at Barnes & Noble on May 10.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) August 21, 2016
And the game was on. Many people played off of Trump’s “Art of the Deal”:
@Olivianuzzi @darth That’s like, 5,000 Art of Deals, and 1 FEC Filings For Dummies.
— Slothy McSloth Sloth (@smcslothsloth) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi Trump needs to maintain an illusion his latest book is a bestseller 🙂
— Tomi 7thSteve Ahonen (@tomiahonen) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi @darth He’s building a full sized replica of the White House out of copies of “The Art of the Deal.”
— G_Mu (@spacemonkx) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi how many copies of “THE ART OF THE DEAL” can one buy for 55 grand?
— Noah V. (@drangryface) August 21, 2016
Some suggested other books Trump could have bought:
@Olivianuzzi How many different Dilbert calendars are there?
— Geddy Me (@daveblend) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi Buying “Campaigning for Dummies”?
— Julie Baker (@michgirlindc) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi Who else was going to buy Ben Carson’s book?
— Adam Kronfeld (@AdamKronfeld) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi @darth Hopefully it was constitutions all around.
— Anil Das (@dasanil) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi that’s a lot of copies of Twilight
— Love.Learn.Lead⚖ (@Teacher4Sanders) August 21, 2016
.@Olivianuzzi In a related note ‘How to be a president for dummies’ is on now back order
— Joshua Allen Bennett (@jbn566) August 21, 2016
And other items:
@Olivianuzzi Includes purchasing the deluxe RISK edition — to give Trump more foreign policy experience.
— Carolina Curmudgeon (@carolinacurmudg) August 21, 2016
@Olivianuzzi @darth does barnes and noble carry trump steaks im just asking
— Seth Trueger (@MDaware) August 21, 2016
One person noted that, to be fair, it’s hard to not spend at a book store:
@Olivianuzzi This is why nobody goes to brick and mortar stores anymore. Start browsing and soon you’re buying everything.
— Theo Littleton (@CptnJustc) August 21, 2016
I know that if I had $55,000 at my disposal, I could easily spend it at B&N. Maybe someone in the Trump campaign is the same. Because it’s hard to believe that Trump does any reading… of books that he didn’t write, anyway.
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