US President Joe Biden dropped out of the forthcoming presidential election on Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's new nominee. The announcement wasn't completely unexpected, especially after pressure mounted on Mr Biden following his poor performance in the first presidential debate last month. Amid this, former President Donald Trump's past donation to Kamala Harris' campaigns is going viral on social media.
The 45th President of the US donated twice to the campaigns of his potential presidential opponent. Financial records show that on September 26, 2011, and February 20, 2013, when Ms Harris was a candidate for California attorney general, Mr Trump gave $5,000 and $1,000 to her campaigns, respectively.
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Mr Trump, further donated $2,000 to Senator Harris' campaign in 2014, according to The Washington Post. A representative for Ms Harris clarified that she did not ask Trump for the donation. According to a 2020 Sacramento Bee report, Ms Harris gave the funds to a nonprofit organisation that "advocates for civil and human rights for Central Americans" during the start of Trump's presidential campaign.
As per a report in Newsweek, Mr Trump used to donate heavily to Democrats at that time. He also gave then-senator Joe Biden's campaign $1,000 in 2001. In 2002, he donated $5,000 to the New York State Democratic Party.
Mr Trump also donated $10,000 to Andrew Cuomo in support of his candidacy for attorney general of New York in 2006 and $15,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In 2010, he backed Kristen Gillibrand's campaign for the US Senate.
Mr Trump made multiple donations to the campaigns of his future opponent Hillary Clinton, including two contributions of $2,100 and $200, respectively, in 2006 and an additional $600 in 2007, according to OpenSecrets. Additionally, the non-profit organisation claims that he gave the Clinton Foundation at least $100,000 in donations.
