Trump has spent years financially compelling people to attend his rallies
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Politics
Trump has spent years financially compelling people to attend his rallies
Grace Panetta, Business Insider 1 hour 5 minutes ago
- President Donald Trump has frequently accused protesters and activists of being paid by powerful liberal forces, but many the attendees at his own events were financially compensated to be there.
- Despite his own disdain for supposedly paid protesters, Trump himself has benefited from people being paid to attend his events, both in his capacity as a political candidate and as president.
- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that union contractors working for a natural gas plant owned by Shell were told they would not receive pay for the day if they didn't attend an official Trump speech at the plant.
- In 2015, a sub-contractor hired by the Trump campaign to produce Trump's campaign rollout at Trump Tower put out a casting call to pay actors $50 for attending the event and holding signs.
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President Donald Trump has frequently accused protesters and activists of being paid by powerful liberal forces, but many attendees at his own events were financially compensated to be there.
For much of his administration, Trump has without evidence dismissed protesters at his rallies or other events as hired and paid by prominent liberals, especially the powerful billionaire and conservative boogeyman George Soros.
During the fraught confirmation process for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump accused people protesting his confirmation hearings of being "paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad," adding, "look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love!"
The Washington Post and other news outlets fact-checked the claim and found no evidence that the Kavanaugh protesters had been directly paid by Soros or his Open Society Foundation.
But despite his own disdain for supposedly paid protesters, Trump himself has benefited from people being paid to attend his events, both in his capacity as a political candidate and as president.
Union workers had to attend Trump event or lose pay
On Saturday, Trump held an official event at the Dutch oil and gas company Shell's Chemicals Petrochemical Complex in Monaca, Pennsylvania. A large crowd of union contractors working at the site, which is in the process of becoming a fully functional natural gas plant, were in attendance for Trump's event.
But Shell came under scrutiny over the weekend after a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette documented how union workers for the company were offered the choice of either attending the Trump speech, or skipping the event and not being paid for the day.
The outlet reported workers were told to expect to stand for several hours during the Trump speech and that if they did not scan their work ID badges at the beginning of the day, they would not be paid.
The paper also said that Shell workers were informed that, "no yelling, shouting, protesting or anything viewed as resistance will be tolerated at the event," and "an underlying theme of the event is to promote goodwill from the unions."
In statements to both the Post-Gazette and to INSIDER , representatives for Shell said that union workers at the site have a 56-hour work week, with 40 hours a week at normal pay and an additional 16 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half pay. Workers who attended the event would receive the full 16 hours of overtime pay, whereas those who skipped the event would not get their overtime.
Trump has paid people to attend his rallies
Back in 2017, the Washington Post reported that the Trump campaign was hit with a Federal Election Commission complaint from a vendor who claimed the campaign did not pay them for their contracting services, which included gathering a crowd for initial campaign announcement at Trump Tower in June of 2015.
In the FEC complaint, the Trump campaign's contracting firm Gotham Government Relations accused the campaign of stiffing them on their $12,000 bill they owed to Gotham for producing Trump's campaign launch for months afterward.
In producing the event, Gotham enlisted a sub-contractor called Extra Mile Casting, which put out a call for people to be paid $50 to attend "an event in support of Donald Trump and an upcoming exciting announcement he will be making."
According to the job posting obtained by the Hollywood Reporter , the agency was "looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement."
Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski denied knowing that some of the attendees were paid actors.
There's no way to know for sure exactly how many union contractors would have attended Trump's speech in Pennsylvania if everyone received pay for the day regardless of whether they went to see Trump speak, but it's undeniable that Trump has benefited from people being financially incentivized to attend his events.
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Union Workers Had To Attend Trump Event Or Lose Pay
On Saturday, Trump held an official event at the Dutch oil and gas company Shell's Chemicals Petrochemical Complex in Monaca, Pennsylvania. A large crowd of union contractors working at the site, which is in the process of becoming a fully functional natural gas plant, were in attendance for Trump's event.
Read more: Shell workers in Pennsylvania say they were told to either attend a recent Trump event, or not get paid
But Shell came under scrutiny over the weekend after a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette documented how union workers for the company were offered the choice of either attending the Trump speech, or skipping the event and not being paid for the day.
The outlet reported workers were told to expect to stand for several hours during the Trump speech and that if they did not scan their work ID badges at the beginning of the day, they would not be paid.
The paper also said that Shell workers were informed that, "no yelling, shouting, protesting or anything viewed as resistance will be tolerated at the event," and "an underlying theme of the event is to promote goodwill from the unions."
In statements to both the Post-Gazette and to INSIDER , representatives for Shell said that union workers at the site have a 56-hour work week, with 40 hours a week at normal pay and an additional 16 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half pay. Workers who attended the event would receive the full 16 hours of overtime pay, whereas those who skipped the event would not get their overtime.
I call bullshit on this. It is illegal to not pay someone for even a minute of work. If these workers clocked in at 7am and the event was later in the day, these people HAVE to be paid for their time they spent at work.
If they are being threatened that if they worked a full day, then decide to not go to the event, and not get paid for full day work, then SHELL and the UNION should be held responsible legally for not paying the workers.
If this story was true, then I am sure the seeder can find comments by the workers on the validity of the report, instead of some "journalist" making claims.
Sounds to me like the rally was during the work day and it was either go to the rally, take leave, or don't get paid
“No scan, no pay,” workers were warned.
“This is just what Shell wanted to do and we went along with it,” Ken Broadbent, business manager for Steamfitters Local 449, told the newspaper. He said he wouldn’t “bad rap” the situation.
I asked for comments by the workers, not a member of union management. Try again.
If it was held during the work day, then the workers got paid for the actual work done that day. If they did not go to the rally, then their pay for the day ended before the rally started. You can't tell someone they will not get paid for the day if they do not attend a rally, even though they had already worked at least part of the day.
They may have gotten paid for the work they did.
But what company closes down production just for a stupid political rally? If it were my company I'd be telling them you have to take leave to attend the rally or you can stay at work
Not may....they have to. If the rally was mandated by the company, then the company should pay them to be there. They can't pick and choose how they are going to pay, especially if they are the ones mandating attendance.
Call bullshit all you like. It's true.
I did and will continue to call out bs.
For Shell management to dictate the kind of politically motivated decision they did and tied it to employees pay shows just how much like Trump they are.
They much be working for some kind of drilling permit from Trump and playing up to his ego at the expense monetarily, and they had to wait standing up for hours for Trump to even show up.
It shows that Trump has Shell in his hip pocket.
Sounds like an easy days pay to me with overtime
not for a person who possesses character
So you admit people were paid to go to his rallies
If a company MANDATES their employees attend the event, then yes, they should get paid. Your seed says no such thing. It only says the workers were threatened with no pay for the day, no matter how long they worked prior to the event.
Give it up bugsy.
Give what up? You have proven nothing in your seed is true.
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I've pointed out several times how the headlines are bullshit, and will continue to do so.
To better define the situation:
Shell spokesman Ray Fisher told the Post-Gazette that workers at the plant have a 56-hour workweek, which includes 16 hours of overtime pay — so workers who showed up on Tuesday were paid for the week at a higher rate.
Another Shell spokesman, Curtis Smith, told Newsweek that workers who chose to skip the rally received “paid time off,” which does not count as hours worked and therefore does not trigger overtime pay. Trump’s speech was treated as a training that differed from other training sessions only in that it included “a guest speaker who happened to be the President,” Smith said.
Those who attended received their regular pay for the week which included 16 hours of overtime. Those who didn't attend, did not get their overtime pay for the week. No matter how you slice it, non-attendees were penalized, and to make matters worse, the union backed up the mandate. I'm an idiot and even I can connect the dots.
I wouldn't call it penalizing anyone. It obviously was a volunteer thing to go to the event. If you went, you got the extra pay, if you did not attend, you didn't get it. It was the individuals call to make.
Seems to me a logical person would have gone simply because of the extra pay.
"the union backed up the mandate."
But yet, liberals swear unions are the best thing on this planet since sliced bread. What's changed?
[Deleted]
You are a participant in a civil discussion. No one is flagging you. As a matter of fact, most participants here are non-flaggers.
accept me
i'm a flaggette from way back...
what an odd accusation, especially from whati've read
.
Trumpp has done exactly what he claims Dems do
and
they R both guilty, but mainly due to Trump being , yet again, the
hypocrite , does it stand out
at least to me but i'm often the unexceptible acception
Give up. There is no convincing his Kool Aid intoxicated lemmings with facts.
That is a sensible statement. But the bottom line is still this: Shell employees received paychecks where the amount was contingent upon their attendance at an event where the agenda was designed to garner support for Trump's re-election. It would be equally as wrong if the agenda was designed to garner support for a democratic candidate.
In addition, those choosing to attend were given a strict behavior mandate.
"no yelling, shouting, protesting or anything viewed as resistance will be tolerated at the event..."
Anything viewed as resistance? Hello, North Korea.
NO work was done that day. They labeled it a 'training session' with a 'quest speaker' made all of the workers stand and wait for Trump to show and stand the whole time Trump babbled. They were there from 7 AM to past 3 with no lunch.
How this isn't considered a giant campaign contribution from Shell to Trump I don't know...
it's payback for all those laxed regulations Trumpp is responsible for
.
What a pathetic , again LYING, Duesh e
n
u defenders, stop allowing Shell to mix vinegar n oil into his word salads,
or was it those fracker mixing our drinking water with that damn vinegar,
u get the pitcher, now drink
n think it's Kool while we take a polaroid
Ah, yes....I see the seeder needs someone to go to their rescue when they are proven wrong, and then the rescuer goes to name calling. I ask you, Paula, can you answer the questions I posed to her?
Where does the seed say that Trump rally ATTENDEES were paid to be at any rally, and,
Show how a company, any company, union or not, can refuse to pay someone for even 1 minute of pay of earlier day's work if they refuse to go to a voluntary rally later in the day.
I await your answers...
Those folks behind the turd at that rally did not look happy at being forced to attend.
When I read that this had happened, it made me sick. I actually hoped it was fake or perhaps reported incorrectly.
This goes against what this country is about. It's not normal, it's not right, and it should scare the crap out of every citizen of this country.
But...but....that is Trump....the President of our country....the one that the Republicans hold as the Messiah. The one that they claim God sent to save our country and the world. The only one on earth qualified to sit at the right hand of their God.
Yeah......that one. The one that Shell's union required the company's employees to wait hours for at his rally at their plant or not get paid.
No..it is not normal...it's not right....and only those blinded by hate and party loyalty can't see it.
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Trump Has Paid People To Attend His Rallies
Back in 2017, the Washington Post reported that the Trump campaign was hit with a Federal Election Commission complaint from a vendor who claimed the campaign did not pay them for their contracting services, which included gathering a crowd for initial campaign announcement at Trump Tower in June of 2015.
In the FEC complaint, the Trump campaign's contracting firm Gotham Government Relations accused the campaign of stiffing them on their $12,000 bill they owed to Gotham for producing Trump's campaign launch for months afterward.
Where does this say that Trump paid people to attend his rallies?
It says a vendor was paid to assemble a crowd, but nothing that says people attending were paid. I'm sure if you looked just a teeeeeeny weeeeeeny bit, you will probably find it is a common practice on both sides of the aisle to hire a company to assemble crowds .
This whole seed is bs.
It's not bullshit. It's true. You have posted nothing to disprove it.
Uh, my explanation to each of your posts disproved everything.
In reality, it is up to the accuser to provide proof, but we have found out many times over the last decade or so, the loony left would rather demand proof of something that did not happen , rather than providing proof of their argument.
Russian collusion being one big one.
It's up to you to disprove and you have not. All you've said is it's bullshit
Of course he did, just as the headline of this seed is a lie. Trump never paid people to attend and nowhere does it say so EXCEPT in the phony headline
I DID disprove your seed. Go back and reread the responses I made to your two original posts. By my responses, THAT proved your seed is bullshit.
Exactly. Some people only read what they WANT to see.
No he did not. There are no lies in the title or seed
Nope, you did not
Trump has paid people to attend his rallies
Now....if you can (you can't), show us where in your seed does it say people were paid to attend Trump rallies.
That headline is a LIE..
"the choice of either attending the Trump speech, or skipping the event and not being paid for the day"
This blurb from your seed is a LIE. Legally, no company can make an employee work even one minute, then refuse to pay them, even for that one minute, for not attending a voluntary event.
Stop spreading bullshit seeds.
In May of 2015, the Trump campaign hired a company called Gotham Government Relations and Communications to help them organize activities surrounding Trump's announcement to run for president. Gotham then hired a company called Extra Mile Casting, which is a subsidiary of Extra Mile Company , who agreed to provide fill-ins to beef up crowd size. The fill-in attendees were promised $50 in cash at the end of the event and were given t-shirts to wear and signs to wave.
It is a violation of campaign finance regulations for candidates to use such a method to beef up crowd size. You can read the official Trump Campaign report from the Federal Election Commission here.
The thing that drew attention to the whole affair was the Trump campaign's decision to stiff Gotham out of their $12,000.00 contractual fee. Gotham went public, and they were finally paid 4 months later.
So what? I'm sure if you looked just a teeeeeny bit, you might find that most other campaigns hire similar, if not the same, companies to help with getting attendees, even the liberal messiah Obama and especially their Abuela Hillary.
More recently, you could probably find Creepy Joe campaign has hired someone for the same thing at ALL of his rallies. From the looks of them, he sure needs the help.
It just cracks me up to see libs going batshit crazy over something that campaigns have done for years, and nary a peep, but, Trump.....
Also half of his twitter followers are bot accounts. He's always bragging about crowd size and his followers when they're all paid or bots.
What a pathetic impotent turd he is.
Again, you have no proof of this, just your "feeeeeeeelings".
Trump Has Paid People To Attend His Rallies
Every substantial Democratic rally you see will have Union Members being paid to be there, holding signs they made while being paid.
Everything Trump ever does wrong has been done previously by someone somewhere on the face of the earth, therefore "no big deal".
That is the Trumpster rationale, or should we say one of the many rationales used to perpetually excuse his behavior.
It would be comical if we werent talking about the presidency.
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Proof please. I am sure you have it handy so please share it with us.
Oh great, another unfounded proclamation.
Prove it...
Of course you have proof of that.