Netizens exploded with outrage on Saturday after a report from Huffington Post emerged suggesting that a dog rescue charity linked to Lara Trump - the wife of Eric Trump - had been funnelling money to Trump properties.
According to the report, the charity, named Big Dog Ranch Rescue, has spent some $1.9 million at the ex-president's properties over the past seven years.
Starting in 2014, the charity reportedly spent as much as $1,883,160 on fundraising costs at Mar-a-Lago and at a Trump golf course in Jupiter, Florida. Lara Trump appeared on the list as "chairwoman" of the organisation in 2018. The group's president, Lauren Simmons, visited the White House in 2019.
With memories of reports of Eric Trump funneling money from a cancer charity directly into Trump properties still fresh, netizens took to Twitter to denounce his wife for being "as scummy" as her husband.
Me: Nothing could possibly be as scummy as Eric Trump embezzling money meant for kids with cancer.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) March 13, 2021
Lara Trump: pic.twitter.com/3PghDSHFCp
Eric Trump: I stole money from a kids cancer charity. You?
— Paul 🍎 (@HeathenOnEarth_) March 13, 2021
Lara Trump: Hold my latte...
Just now seeing why #LaraTrump is trending.
— AsherWhites (@AsherWhites) March 13, 2021
Stealing. Money. From. Dogs. pic.twitter.com/IrgJ3JODSD
Some even moved to compare Lara with the Disney villain Cruella De Ville, who hates Dalmatians and kidnaps the puppies for their fur.
Lara Trump Dog Charity Funneling Money to Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/w9ZmMPORDx
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) March 13, 2021
Lara Trump going to bed after funneling $1.9 million from a dog rescue charity into her father-in-law’s pocket pic.twitter.com/6r928XbM2P
— Nick Dyer (@nicholasddyer) March 13, 2021
Cruelara Detrump : well dog charities don't rip themselves off! #LaraTrump pic.twitter.com/Q8D7IUXny3
— Tarquin (@Tarquin_Helmet) March 13, 2021
On Friday, Donald Trump made an appearance at an animal rescue fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, on the same day the Huffington Post reported on the Big Dog Ranch Rescue money scam. The former president referred to Lara's reported senatorial bid for North Carolina.
"I want to thank Lara, who has been so incredible. I don't know, you're running for the Senate," he said in a video tweet, while sporting his signature 'Make America Great Again' hat. "I hear she's going to run for the Senate."
Lara Trump has not responded to the allegations.
The Trump Organisation said back in 2017 that "at no time did the Trump Organisation profit in any way from the foundation or any of its activities."