Shark charities say they’re getting stream of donations mentioning Trump
Shark-related nonprofits say they have received a stream of donations mentioning President Trump since an adult film star who allegedly had an affair with Trump said he told her he hoped sharks die.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have both said they have received a flood of donations since Trump’s comments were reported, MarketWatch reported.
“We have been receiving donations in Trump’s name since the story was published,” said Cynthia Wilgren, chief executive officer and co-founder of Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, based in Chatham, Mass.
She added that most of the donations the charity has received have been from people giving for the first time, noting that it is difficult “to raise money for a species that most people fear.”
Paul Watson, founder of the Burbank, Calif.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said the nonprofit has gotten “quite a few” donations from people who have mentioned Trump’s comments.
“Anything that focuses attention on the plight of sharks worldwide is valuable, so I guess in that way the president did good service,” Watson said.
Watson said it’s “actually more dangerous to play golf than it is to go swimming in the ocean with sharks.”
“Quite a few more die from lightning strikes and bee stings while playing golf than from sharks,” Watson told MarketWatch.
The reported donations come after an interview was published in which an adult film star who says she had an affair with President Trump in 2006 said that Trump was obsessed with sharks and revealed to her that he was “terrified of sharks.”
Stormy Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — said in a 2011 interview with In Touch that one night she and Trump were having dinner and that programming from the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” was on television.
“He is obsessed with sharks. Terrified of sharks. He was like, ‘I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die,’” she said.
“He was, like, riveted. He was, like, obsessed. It’s so strange, I know.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, had arranged a $130,000 payment to Clifford for her to remain quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Cohen and the White House have denied that Trump had an affair with Clifford and Cohen has denied the report of a $130,000 payment.
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