Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is still dating Don Jr., had her birthday party at Mar-a-Lago on March 7, right as coronavirus began its (visible) attack across the United States. Fun time for a party! And it turns out that not only was COVID-19 a potential party guest (a Brazilian government official tested positive post-celebration), but the event was partially funded by Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. Huh.
The New York Times reports that four people connected to Trump’s re-election campaign fund—which Guilfoyle is in charge of—paid for at least a portion of her $50,000-dollar-party, whose guests included the likes of House Rep./1980s teen movie bully Matt Gaetz. The party itself was planned by Caroline Wren, who’s a financial consultant for Trump Victory, which the Times says is “a joint fund-raising committee formed by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, and is Mr. Trump’s primary means of raising six-figure campaign donations.”
Wren claims the party wasn’t affiliated with Trump’s campaign, but it’s generally hard to separate the Trump family from the Trump family business from the Trump administration. This is in large part because Trump himself has made about as much effort to separate his own financial gain from the presidency as he did to help coordinate a multiagency response to coronavirus ahead of its arrival in the United States, i.e. none whatsoever.
Meanwhile, it seems like the virus had a nice time at Mar-a-Lago—in addition to the aforementioned Brazilian official, Ambassador to the U.S. Nestor Forster, confirmed case, the resort was visited by Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary to President Jair Bolsonaro, who also tested positive; Bolsonaro also may or may not have it. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who was also at Mar-a-Lago that weekend, is awaiting test results, and someone who attended a fundraising brunch at Mar-a-Lago on March 8 tested positive as well. The resort is now closed for a “deep clean,” according to CNN.
Hope everybody had fun!