RNC, Trump campaign told to stop using President Reagan to raise money

Source: Washington Post

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute formally asked the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee to stop using the 40th president’s name and image to raise money.

The request came in response to a fundraising appeal sent from the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint effort of the Trump campaign and the RNC, offering two commemorative coins, one engraved with Reagan’s image and the other with that of President Trump to anyone who donates $45 or more for Trump’s reelection. The email was “signed” by Trump.

Melissa Giller, the Reagan Foundation’s chief marketing officer, told Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty that the request to cease sales of the coins was made by phone to the RNC last week. Giller said the RNC agreed “within seconds” to stop using Reagan to solicit funds for Trump’s reelection.

The foundation, which runs the Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles, was provided sole rights of the use of Reagan and his wife’s names and images. While the foundation can’t stop every time the Reagans’ likenesses are used, it claims the right to stop groups from using them for political or commercial gain.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rnc-trump-campaign-told-to-stop-using-president-reagan-to-raise-money/2020/07/25/0a3bf886-cebc-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html