The only thing more amazing than Donald Trump’s addiction to grifting is the fact that there’s a never-ending supply of Trump-supporting marks to grift. Case in point: Trump supporters have apparently been buying up “Trump Bucks,” only to find that they’re not actually legal tender.
Yes, you read that right, but I’ll say it again in case you’re cartoonishly rubbing your eyes with your fists in disbelief. Trump supporters spent actual U.S. dollars on something called “Trump Bucks,” which they thought they could take to the bank and exchange for more money.
NBC News, which reported on the story in late May, reached out to Trump for comment, but Trump didn’t answer. Is he personally involved in Trump Bucks? Did some shady characters just capitalize on his likeness to run their own scam? Who knows? NBC identified the companies manufacturing the bucks as Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots, all of which reportedly ran misleading ad campaigns on right-wing social media sites promising that Trump Bucks could be redeemed for cash.
The scam came to light when Trump supporters started showing up at banks, trying to cash in their bucks and being told that they’d been scammed.
Why do people fall for Donald Trump-related scams?
Trump Bucks are, of course, far from the first time Donald Trump—or other con artists riding his greasy coattails—has scammed his way into people’s wallets.
Most recently, Trump released a collection of NFTs depicting his likeness as a cowboy, astronaut, and other childish fantasies. It’s hard not to laugh when looking at the images, since even the ones that don’t use stolen art are ridiculous-looking. No sensible person would want to pay money for one, but the very definition of a Trump supporter is someone who’s easily duped. They looked at these things and thought, “this purchase will be a sound investment that shows everyone how smart and cool I am.”
It’s no surprise that there’s such a huge overlap between Trump supporters and people who fall for other types of scams, like NFTs and cryptocurrency. These scams dangle enticing rewards in front of their victims: the reward of a country made “great” again, or higher social status, or a huge pile of cash, or all three. The tragedy of these victims is that so many of them don’t learn from their mistakes, instead falling for scam after scam after scam.
Let’s just hope that, in keeping Donald Trump afloat, they don’t drag the rest of us down with them.
(Via NBC News, featured image: Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images)
