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  • 2019-08-06 (xsd:date)
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  • Does a Portion of Each Bang Energy Sale Go Toward Trump's Campaign? (en)
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  • On July 31, 2019, Axios published a report about the fundraising efforts of pro-Donald Trump super PAC America First Action and its affiliated 501(c)(4) nonprofit, America First Policies. The news outlet found that these organizations had jointly raised more than $17 million during the first six months of 2019, thanks in part to donations from PAC Chairwoman Linda McMahon ($1 million), Chicago Cubs Co-Owner Marlene Ricketts ($500,000), and the company Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. ($250,000). The donation from Vital Pharmaceuticals, the company that manufacturers Bang Energy, caught the attention of the website Popular Information. On Aug. 1, that website elaborated on Axios' findings in an article entitled: Every can of (Bang Energy) drink helps Trump get re-elected: The notion that every purchase of a BANG Energy drink helps fund President Trump's 2020 re-election campaign reached a wider audience a few days later when the following message was posted to Twitter: Both the Popular Information article and the aforementioned tweet exaggerated Bang's connection to the Trump campaign. Vital Pharmaceuticals did donate $250,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC in March 2019. But that is not the same as Bang Energy donating a portion of every product sold to Trump's re-election effort. Bang has no advertising campaign promising to donate a portion of sales to fund Trump's re-election. Furthermore, the Pharmaceuticals donation appears to have been for one time only. We found no record of that company donating to any pro-Trump super PACs during the 2016 presidential election. Also, no evidence exists that this donation was directly tied to Bang Energy sales, now or in the future. That said, Vital Pharmaceuticals and Bang Energy founder and CEO Jack Owoc has been a vocal supporter of the president: He is also friends (or at least friendly) with President Trump's son Don Jr. and his girlfriend and television personality Kimberly Guilfoyle. Trump Jr. tagged Owoc in a March 2019 Facebook post about a great night of fishing: Owoc also celebrated Guilfoyle's birthday with Trump Jr. at Mar-a-Lago: In sum, Owoc, the CEO of Vital Pharmaceuticals and Bang Energy, is a supporter of President Trump. Vital Pharmaceuticals donated $250,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC in March 2019. However, no evidence exists that a portion of every Bang Energy drink sale supports Trump's reelection efforts. (en)
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