Donald Trump was harshly criticised this week for the inadequacy of his response to the Charlottesville terror attack and his ongoing reluctance to criticise the white supremacist movement, and the dreadful PR now appears to be hitting his bottom line.
There are reports this weekend that more than a dozen organisations have cancelled big-ticket events at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida, apparently unwilling to have their names associated with the President’s as his personal brand becomes increasingly toxic.
Per reports in Fairfax, the The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, a society devoted to the care and maintenance of historical landmarks in the upscale community, had planned to hold its annual dinner dance at the estate next March.
The group spent $US244,000 on a past event there, but in a statement to the media on Saturday, executive director Amanda Skier said: “Given the current environment surrounding Mar-a-Lago, we have made the decision to move our annual dinner dance.”
The Palm Beach Daily News is keeping a running total of charities that have pulled out of events at Mar-a-Lago in the previous days and weeks, and so far, the number stands at 18, with only four still undecided for the upcoming charitable ball season.
Susan G. Komen, the world’s largest nonprofit in the fight against breast cancer, announced on Friday that it would not be holding its annual event at Mar-a-Lago, joining The International Red Cross and The Salvation Army in pulling out.
Per the Post’s tally, the list of groups that moved or cancelled events so far includes:
American Cancer Society ball
American Friends of Magen David Adom
American Humane Association Hero Dogs luncheon
Autism Project of Palm Beach County
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute gala
Big Dog Ranch Rescue event
Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach
Cleveland Clinic, moving to The Breakers
Dana Farber Cancer Institute gala
Hearing the Ovarian Cancer Whisper (H.O.W) luncheon, moving to Flagler Museum
International Red Cross ball
LIFE Lady in Red Gala, pending board approval
Leukemia and Lymphoma gala
MorseLife (Dinner dance only)
Preservation Foundation (Note: This event was at The Breakers last year.)
Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation luncheon
Salvation Army
Susan G. Komen Perfect Pink Party
The Lady In Red Gala is part of an education initiative run by local Palm Beach philanthropist and self-described Trump supporter Lois Pope. In asking her board to move this year’s event, she delivered a sharp rebuke to the President, saying:
The hatred, vitriol and anti-Semitic and racist views being spewed by neo-Nazis and white supremacists are repugnant and repulsive – and they are antithetical to everything that this country stands for. And anyone who would demonstrate even a modicum of support for them by insisting that there are ‘good people’ among them is not deserving of my personal patronage or that of my foundations.
I want my children, grandchildren and great-grandson to know that standing up to hatred and discrimination in all forms is both a personal responsibility and the right thing to do. Therefore, I am recommending to my board that we move this year’s gala from the Mar-A-Lago Club.
A number of organisations appear to have pulled out of their events after social media pressure, with some threatening to cease their donations to groups like the Salvation Army if it continued to support Trump’s business ventures.
At this stage, there are four groups who have yet to confirm their plans – the Kravis Center and the Palm Beach Habilitation Centre, who are currently consulting with their boards, as well as the Palm Beach Zoo and Gateway for Cancer Research.
The President and his first lady Melania Trump announced this weekend that they will not be attending the annual Kennedy Centre Honors in Washington, “to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction.”
This year, LL Cool J, Norman Lear, Lionel Richie, Carmen de Lavallade, and Gloria Estefan are being recognised for their contributions to American culture. As of several days ago, all but LL Cool J had threatened to boycott the event, although presumably, they will now attend.
