National Republican Trust Political Action Committee

The National Republican Trust Political Action Committee is a conservative political action committee run by Scott Wheeler.[1] According to the group, they are "not an official RNC committee". They describe themselves as "conservative Republicans dedicated to helping restore the GOP to its historic conservative roots by mobilizing like-minded Republicans nationwide."[2]

Fundraising

Carrie Dann, writing for Congress Daily, described the National Republican Trust as an "aggressive fundraising group".[3] The trust has said that it does not accept money from corporations, and relies on small donations from individuals in the $25–50 range.[4]

During the 2009 run-up to the United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010, the trust contributed $95,000 to the election of Scott Brown.[5]

Ad campaigns

On November 1, 2008, just days before the United States presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain, NBC ran an NRT anti-Obama ad featuring Jeremiah Wright during a broadcast of Saturday Night Live. According to Newsweek, "the ad attacking Obama's former pastor was slick, with much better production values than the crude Reverend Wright videos running on the Internet. But it was too little, too late."[6] Dann reported that the ad cost more than $11 million.[3]

In 2010, NRT produced "Kill Ground Zero Mosque", a 60-second ad "urging Americans to oppose the building of a mosque two blocks from New York's Ground Zero". According to the ad, "On Sept. 11, they declared war against us, and to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero." NBC and CBS rejected the ad due to its "vague language".[7]

In November 2010, it was reported that five Fox affiliates and one ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group had broadcast an infomercial critical of then-President Barack Obama, Breaking Point: 25 Minutes that will Change America, which was sponsored by NRT.[8] The infomercial painted Obama as an extremist, and claimed that, during the 2008 presidential campaign, he received some campaign money from the Hamas terrorist group, and that Obama said in a speech, "You want freedom? You’re gonna have to kill some crackers! You gonna have to kill some of those babies." The special also discusses Obama advisers Van Jones and John Holdren, as well as Obama staff Anita Dunn, Kevin Jennings, Carol Browner and Cass Sunstein – all in an unflattering light; in one case, the special claimed that Holdren said that trees should be permitted to sue humans in court. The infomercial aired at various times during the weekend of October 30, 2010 on Sinclair-owned stations in Madison, Cape Girardeau, Lexington, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, and Winston-Salem – all in swing states vital to the 2010 elections.[9][10]

Selected publications
  • Wheeler, Scott. (2010). Shadow Government: What Obama Doesn't Want You To Know About His Czars. Capitol Media Group. ISBN 0615368964.

References
  1. TV Networks reject controversial '9/11 mosque' ad. BBC News. July 14, 2010.
  2. 'Nobel Peace Prize Committee Spreads the Good News That Obama Is the One,' Says National Republican Trust's Wheeler. Pediatrics Week. October 31, 2009, p. 29.
  3. Dann, Carrie. (May 14, 2009). "PAC Warns GOP Senators Not To Back Next Court Pick". Congress Daily, p. 19.
  4. "MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Drowning in a Cesspool of Hypocrisy." Biotech Week. August 26, 2009.
  5. Shear, Michael D. (February 1, 2011). "The Caucus; Massachusetts: Senator May Lose Financial Backer". The New York Times, p. 16; "National groups put funds into Mass. race". USA Today. January 14, 2010, p. 2.
  6. Briscoe et al. (November 17, 2008). "The Final Days". Newsweek, pp. 111–121.
  7. "CBS, NBC reject anti-Ground Zero mosque ad." United Press International. July 15, 2010.
  8. "Breaking Point: 25 Milutes that will Change America". National Republican Trust. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  9. "Fox affiliates run infomercial in swing states suggesting Obama funded by Hamas, wants to 'kill some crackers'". The Raw Story. November 1, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  10. "'Kill Some Crackers': GOP Group Pays Fox Affiliates To Influence Election With Anti-Obama Propaganda". ThinkProgress. November 1, 2010.
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