Critics of former President Donald Trump caused #BoycottGoFundMe to trend on X as the platform continues to host a fundraiser seeking to fund the $355 million judgment brought against Trump on Friday.
The fundraiser in question—organized by Elena Cardone, the wife of real estate mogul Grant Cardone—is in response to Judge Arthur Engoron's decision to fine Trump $355 million and bar him from doing business in New York for three years, the culmination of the high-profile civil fraud trial over improperly inflating property values to secure better loan terms.
"I stand unwaveringly with President Donald Trump in the face of what I see as unprecedented and unfair treatment by certain judicial elements in New York," Cardone wrote in the description of the fundraiser. "The recent legal battles he faces are not just an attack on him, but an attack on the very ideals of fairness and due process that every American deserves."
She later added: "The fact that a business owner did a loan with a bank, never defaulted, nor missed a payment, pays back the loan with interest and caused no financial damage to anyone, yet, the government overreaches and slaps a business owner with a $355M ruling should terrify all business owners and entrepreneurs."
As of Tuesday morning, the fundraiser has received $657,000 across 12,500 donors.
The fundraiser has been widely mocked by critics and some even donated nominal amounts to post trolling comments (which have since been disabled) in anticipation of the fundraiser being taken down for violating GoFundMe's prohibition on fundraisers for the legal defense of alleged financial and violent crimes.
But the fundraiser has not been taken down—prompting many left-wingers on social media to call for the site's boycott. A spokesperson for GoFundMe confirmed to Newsweek that the fundraiser was within the platform's terms of service.
"I will never donate to any GoFundMe ever again, since they're allowing this fraud to continue," commented one X user.
"It’s probably time to #boycottgofundme," posted someone else in response to the fundraiser for Trump.
"How many Billionaires do you know that have GoFundMe accounts to pay their legal expenses?" asked someone else with the same hashtag.
The calls echo past comments from conservatives—many of whom pledged to switch to the conservative crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo after GoFundMe blocked a fundraiser for Freedom Convoy truck drivers who protested COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Canada.
The move prompted Republican lawmakers to take action against the platform, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) calling for an investigation into potential illegal practices and a GOP-led House committee probing GoFundMe's "discrimination" and censorship of right-wing viewpoints.
As such, when the fundraiser was first announced, some proponents of Trump voiced displeasure that it was being hosted on GoFundMe.
"Go Fund Me is anti Trump and liberal. You should have used GiveSendGo," right-wing activist Laura Loomer wrote to Grant Cardone on Friday. "Go Fund Me is notorious for banning conservative campaigns. I have been banned from GoFundMe since 2018."
One X user replied that she would donate "only if you change to GiveSendGo" because she "can’t trust the other one."
"Switch to givesendgo and I will donate. GoFundMe is a dishonest and leftist company," someone else similarly wrote.
One user referenced GoFundMe's decision to remove defense funds for Kyle Rittenhouse—though the platform allowed fundraisers to resume in the wake of his acquittal.
"#BoycottGoFundMe is trending. I'm glad to see the left finally getting on board with that a few years after they canceled donations for Kyle Rittenhouse. #GiveSendGo," he wrote.
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