Today, US presidential candidate Donald Trump announced his plan to make campaign donations exclusively in cryptocurrency. At a campaign rally in Wisconsin, Trump used the statement as an opportunity to take a shot at the wife of his rival main Ted Cruz, Heidi, who had previously worked at multinational investment banking firm Goldman Sachs.
“Listen up folks, we gotta be smart about campaign donations. Look at Ted Cruz. He’s being bankrolled by the big banks. His wife, not much of a looker, I might add, definitely could be better in the face department, she’s in bed with the banks. Believe me. She used to work for them, she probably still does. We gotta start making campaign donations cryptocurrency-only. That’s right. We need to get the big banks out of it completely.”
Trump stated that prefers to accept campaign donations in Trumpcoin, a cryptocurrency modeled after his likeness.
“Look, and you better believe me folks, it's a great coin. Classy. It looks like gold. You won’t find a better cryptocurrency out there anywhere. Trust me.”
Ted Cruz shot back at Trump’s criticism of his wife and his campaign’s independence:
“Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, her person or her professional integrity, you're more of a coward that I thought. We have the generous support of conservative constitutionalists all around America. If anyone’s trying to buy elections here, it’s you.”
Clinton: It’s time our currency represents women
Trump’s comments elicited a response from Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who criticized cryptocurrency’s lack of central control and governmental oversight.
“As the most transparent public official in modern times, I think the American people deserve to know who is funding their elected officials. We need real accountability, not some digital fools gold that could be from anyone.”
Clinton took a particular shot at Trumpcoin, saying that too many currencies bear the likenesses of “old white men.”
“It’s time that our currency represents the contributions of women to America’s heritage and leadership.”
Sanders’ misgivings
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders expressed some support for the idea of cryptocurrency-funded elections, saying that, at the very least, elections “won’t be bought and paid for by the big banks.” He did, however, express some misgivings as to cryptocurrency’s new and untested nature.
“I have my reservations about cryptocurrency since it is completely unregulated. I would like to see oversight in its distribution and its governance to ensure that it is fair for all Americans.”
Ron Paul: Fed has taken our money
Former presidential candidate, leader in the libertarian movement, and sound money advocate Ron Paul expressed support for the idea of cryptocurrency funding elections, but stated he did not favor a government mandate.
“I think it’s a great idea. You know, the Federal Reserve has taken Americans’ money and made it practically worthless through inflation. The ideal would be to get back to sound money, back on a gold standard, but at least with cryptocurrency, you can’t inflate that, you can’t just print more and use it to tax people without their consent. But it shouldn’t be government making these decisions, it should be the American people themselves choosing which money they want to use. I think we’ve had enough of government running our lives as it is.”
[Happy april fools day]