A fundraiser for conservative school board candidates headlined by Eric Trump is underway Wednesday evening, May 22, in Temecula.
The Trump-loving crowd donned red Make America Great Again caps, hoisted Donald Trump 2024 flags and enjoyed a guitarist’s performance of “Folsom Prison Blues” — dedicated to Hillary Clinton. They gathered in the Stampede, a popular country music venue in rustic Old Town Temecula.
At least an hour before the 6 p.m. event, people on both sides of the political divide had gathered. The scene outside the Stampede resembled a Trump rally. But nearby, protesters had also gathered, holding signs with slogans such as “Keep your church out of our school” and “Separate church and state.”
Introductory remarks came from Jessica Tapia, a former Jurupa Valley High School gym teacher who sued after being fired, she said, for not following district policies calling for the recognition of transgender students’ identities.
The crowd erupted in cheers of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “USA! USA! USA!” when Eric Trump was spotted inside the venue before posing for photos with guests.
Trump, 40, visited Temecula to raise money for the Inland Empire Family PAC, founded by conservative southwest Riverside County Pastor Tim Thompson to raise money for like-minded candidates to win school board seats in the Inland Empire.
Former Donald Trump attorney Alina Habba, Trump White House official Kash Patel and Republican Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin are also on the speaker’s list.
Ticket prices ranged from $200 for general admission to $1,000 for VIP seating and a meet-and-greet with Eric Trump, who is scheduled to be the evening’s last main speaker.
Thompson said before the event that he hoped the event would generate more than $100,000 for the family PAC, which opposes policies with the goal of supporting LGBTQ people and certain ways race is talked about in the teaching of U.S. history. Five of seven PAC-endorsed candidates across southwest Riverside County won school board seats in 2022.
Critics, including Riverside County Democratic Party Chair Joy Silver, denounced the event for, in their view, supporting right-wing authoritarianism and efforts to impose a Christian theocracy in public schools. A protest was planned at the Temecula Duck Pond park about a mile from the Stampede, a country music venue.
Eric Trump’s appearance stems from a February visit by Habba at a Temecula-area equestrian facility at an event for Our Watch, a Thompson-led organization that posts his commentaries and interviews with conservative activists and lawmakers on social media.
Thompson said Habba offered to connect his organization with Eric Trump, one of the former president’s three sons and Donald Trump’s third child with ex-wife Ivana Trump.
Habba frequently appears on cable news to praise the former president and blast efforts to prosecute Donald Trump, the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee who faces roughly 90 criminal charges in four separate state and federal cases.
While she is celebrated in conservative circles, the judge in Donald Trump’s civil defamation trial scolded Habba’s courtroom conduct — at one point threatening to throw her in jail after she interrupted him.
Patel served in various capacities in the Trump administration, including chief of staff in the Department of Defense and a counterterrorism adviser on the National Security Council.
In December, Patel said on Trump ally Steve Bannon’s podcast that if Donald Trump returns to the White House, “conspirators” in the media and government would be targeted — “We’re going to come after you whether it’s criminally or civilly,” he added.
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An executive vice president in his father’s business, the Trump Organization, Eric Trump has been a prominent spokesperson and adviser for Donald Trump over the years. Eric Trump’s wife, Lara, is co-chairperson of the Republican National Committee and the couple have two children.
Like his father, Eric Trump has made false public statements about COVID-19, Donald Trump’s accomplishments, the 2020 election and President Joe Biden.
Eric Trump also faced scrutiny after Forbes in 2017 reported that the Eric Trump Foundation shifted money intended for cancer patients to Trump family businesses and other charities, “many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.”
Eric Trump, who has not been criminally charged, suspended the operations of his charitable foundation in 2016 to avoid the appearance of contributors trying to gain access to his father through donations.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.