“We haven’t made a large bulk purchase, but are ordering copies to keep up with demand,” Mike Reed, an RNC spokesperson, recently said, the New York Times reported. “Each book is sold to an individual who supports the Republican Party.” The book, which has been described as something the “left doesn’t want you to read,” was heavily advertised by the RNC, which said that it has generated more than $500,000 from sales of the book.
However, according to a financial disclosure form filed to the Federal Election Commission and obtained by the New York Times, the RNC paid bookseller Books-A-Million $94,800 to purchase copies of the book one week before it debuted. The disclosure stated that the payment was for “donor mementos.”
When the New York Times questioned Reed about the “Triggered” purchases, he revealed that the money did go towards the book and that the RNC purchased even more copies in November.
“The book has been hugely popular,” he added.
When probed further regarding the fact that the committee previously noted that it was ordering copies only for individuals who requested them, Reed responded in an email: “We stand by our statement.”
According to the NPD BookScan, which collects data on book sales in the US, “Triggered” has sold more than 115,000 copies as of last Saturday. Patsy S. Jones, the vice president of marketing for Hachette Book Group Nashville, which published “Triggered,” told the Times that the company hasn’t sold the book in large quantities to the RNC and doesn’t know if any third-party purchases have taken place.