The number of charities that have pulled scheduled galas and other events from Donald Trump’s private club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, has swelled to 18 after the Bethesda Hospital Foundation confirmed on its online events page that it had moved a November 9 fund-raising luncheon to the non-Trump-affiliated Boca Raton Resort and Club.
It’s the latest nonprofit group to back out of a booking at Trump’s club since the president came under fire for blaming “both sides” for the violence at a white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month.
“The leadership of the foundation and the events team decided late yesterday to move the event because they wanted to avoid any distractions on the event’s true purpose to honor outstanding women in the community,” Lisa Kronhaus, the foundations VP of public relations, told TheWrap. The luncheon, which is expected to draw about 700 people was held at Mar-a-Lago Club last year.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that Gateway for Cancer Research and Unicorn Children’s Foundation both canceled fundraising events at the venue.
“We are not a political organization and do not condone hatred or bullying on any level as our kids have dealt with the pain of being called different on a very personal level,” Unicorn Children’s Foundation said in a statement on its Facebook page. “Due to the political turbulence associated with this choice of venue it would be a disservice to our supporters and our children to hold our event at Mar-a-Lago.”
In addition, David Lin, the CEO of Palm Beach Habilitation Center, told the Palm Beach Daily News on Wednesday that it was reconsidering its plans to hold a luncheon this March at the club, pending a board meeting early next month. Representatives for the center have not responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Bethesda Hospital Foundation joins a host of charities that have canceled plans at the Mar a Lago club, including the Salvation Army, Cleveland Clinic, American Cancer Society, Palm Beach Zoo, Autism Project of Palm Beach County and Susan G. Komen.
Among those that are still keeping their events at the president’s venue are the Palm Beach Police Foundation and the Achilles Freedom Team, an organization that trains wounded veterans to take part in marathons.
In the wake of the Trump’s combative comments about Charlottesville, several White House business advisory councils were dissolved after several CEOs resigned and all 17 members of the White House Arts Committee quit in protest.
Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold tweeted a complete list of charities scheduled at Trump National Golf Club Mar a Lago, which doubled its initiation fee for new members following the president’s election, to $200,000.
Here's Everyone Who Dumped Trump This Week (Photos)
In the wake of Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally, "Unite the Right," in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, several business leaders, council members and media personalities severed ties with the president. Quite a lot actually.
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich Plank and Krzanich both followed Frazier's lead in quitting the council, citing Trump's Charlottesville response. Trump tweeted condemnation of Frazier, who is black, but for some reason said nothing about these two.
WikiCommons
Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul Early Tuesday morning, Paul became the fourth CEO to quit the manufacturing jobs group, and yes, he cited Trump's response to Charlottesville as the reason.
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Trump Makes It Worse Tuesday afternoon, Trump shocked the country with an off-the-rails press conference at Trump Tower in which he appeared to defend and sympathize with the racist mob in Charlottesville. Trump insisted there was blame, as well as "many fine people" on both sides of the conflict in which nazi-sympathizer murdered one person and injured 19 more with his car.
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AFL-CIO Bails Out Soon after Trump's rant, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations president Richard Trumka resigned from the manufacturing council.
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Advisory Councils Disband On Wednesday, members of Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum agreed to disband after Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville. Soon after, the president announced via Twitter that he was ending his executive councils.
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"I Voted For Trump, And I Sorely Regret It" That's the title of a New York Times op-ed written by Julius Krein, the founder and editor of pro-Trump website American Affairs. It went viral, though mainly because people were mocking it.
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Trump Loses a Murdoch James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox and more importantly son of media magnate and conservative icon Rupert Murdoch, dissed Trump in a widely circulated email to employees. He also said he and his wife will donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League over POTUS' response to Charlottesville.
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The Arts and Humanities Council Disses Trump, then Disbands The Arts and Humanities Comittee resigned Friday morning en masse with a letter written so that the first letters of every paragraph spelled “RESIST.” The members include Kal Penn, Paula Boggs, Chuck Close, Richard Cohen, Fred Goldring and more.
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Bannon Ousted White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was reportedly fired Friday morning, though he insists he resigned July 27—giving two weeks’ notice—but his leaving was put off because of the events in Charlottesville. He will return to Breitbart news to go to “war” for Trump.
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Still More Resignations Politico reported Friday afternoon that a "wave of resignations" hit the Commerce Dept.'s "digital economy" board. More than half the members of the 15-member board resigned.
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A Billionaire BFF Bails on Trump Billionaire investor Carl Icahn stepped down Friday afternoon as unofficial special advisor to Trump, though he doesn't pile on. “I sincerely regret that because of your extremely busy schedule, as well as my own, I have not had the opportunity to spend nearly as much time as I’d hoped on regulatory issues,” he said in a letter to Trump.
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From the manufacturing council to James Murdoch, Trump’s response to Charlottesville has severed ties
In the wake of Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally, "Unite the Right," in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, several business leaders, council members and media personalities severed ties with the president. Quite a lot actually.