From Republicans in tuxedos to vendor selling MAGA hats, Trump's appeal in SC about money

Money talks, especially when it comes to politics.

It can flip seats, change the political map of a state and give people a reason to sell political merchandise as a full-time job.

Perhaps that's why the South Carolina Republican Party, the site of the First in the South primary, leaned on their most bankable man, former President Donald Trump, to headline their glitziest fundraiser event — the Silver Elephant Gala on Saturday, Aug. 5, in Columbia.

Trump, who has now been indicted three times, is still the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary in a crowded GOP field.

That's also why 48-year-old Joe Prince sat outside the South Carolina Fairgrounds surrounded by Trump flags and merchandise, trying to make the most of Trump's commercial appeal in his own way.

If there was ever a time to reclaim and rejig the meaning of "retail politics" — a term used to describe campaigning with small-scale, intimate moments to capture the imagination of voters — it is this.

In Trump's self-feeding MAGA-verse, his brand is wrapped in the American flag, the almighty dollar and boisterous confidence in his electability, in spite of the many legal issues shadowing his candidacy.

On Saturday, nearly 1,300 Republican affluent donors, grassroots workers and activists, dressed to the nines, waltzed into the Silver Elephant Gala, a decades-long event on the SC Republican calendar.

Saturday night was no rally, of course. Gone was the sweltering sun, the concert-style fervor and the sea of red characteristic of Trump’s rallies. In its place was a swanky banquet with the state’s most affluent Republican donors.

Drew McKissick, South Carolina Republican Party's Chairman, said his number one job is to raise money so Republicans could beat Democrats next year.

"And as we move forward for this event, we'll do other events with the other candidates as much as we can," he continued, aware of the optics of Trump leading the course of a major state party fundraising event.

In the meantime, Prince, a Trump supporter, said he traveled from Kingston, Georgia, to sell merchandise. He's been selling Trump-focused political merchandise since 2019 when a friend suggested they make the switch from hawking merch of sports teams.

Trump's connection with fundraising

Only a day prior to the gala in Columbia, Trump led the course of a similar fundraising event in Alabama, where the state's Republican Party is said to have raised $1.2 million, their largest haul to date. Meanwhile, McKissick touted the gala to be the biggest outpouring in the event's historical runtime.

“This is the biggest Silver Elephant Gala we’ve had in the history of the party," said McKissick, who is also the Co-Chair of the Republican National Convention. "That means the most people, the most money that we’ve ever raised from this event."

The total amount of money raised at Saturday's gala was not immediately provided.

In both of Trump's southern pitstops, the tune was the same.

Trump continued to rail against the indictments and Democrats. He questioned why it took the Department of Justice two-and-a-half years to throw legal wrenches in his 2024 run, especially when he's leading the GOP field by double digits. He promised to undo "Bidenomics" and herald in a "Trump economic boom" by rescaling America's oil and natural gas production and by cutting taxes.

"Crooked Joe Biden cares only about enriching his own family as you probably heard," Trump said in Columbia. "I care about enriching your family."

Rep. Ivory Thigpen, D-Richland, shot back against Trump's economic record. "Trump has shown us time and time again that he doesn’t care about the people of South Carolina. But you know who he does care about? The ultra-wealthy and the powerful,” Thigpen said, adding that Trump used presidency to line the pockets of his special interest donors at the expense of working families. "And he would do the same again if elected.”

The former president's comments in Columbia were similar to his previous stump speeches where he has revisited false claims of a rigged 2020 election. But his disproven claims have not dented his popularity and marketability. A New York Times/Sienna Poll showed Trump led his competitors with a 54% lead, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing with 17%. The poll also showed Trump was evenly matched with Biden with a 43%-43% split in a 2024 matchup.

That's more than enough for his promised voters to find strength in Trump's reliability and is sure to be a factor during the three weeks after the primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, where candidates are expected to douse South Carolina in campaign events, and in turn, tourism-related revenue.

Since his arrival in the political landscape, Trump's brand has been a reliable source of funds. During the 2022 midterms, his bankability became consequential for his endorsed candidates.

Though his influence slid, partly due to the backlash from Roe v. Wade's demise last summer, it made enough of a difference for U.S. House Rep. Russell Fry, a newcomer in the national scene, against then 7^th Congressional District Rep. Tom Rice.

Rice was one of just 10 lawmakers in Congress who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Fry was propelled by backlash from Trump's MAGA base to win his primary against Rice.

Trump's third indictment: What Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott and other SC Republicans are saying

The commercial appeal that stands in the fringes

A significant portion of Trump's MAGA base is worlds away from Saturday's formal gala. But their attempts to monetize Trump's brand is where they align.

Prince has zipped through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, West Virginia and parts of Texas. In Columbia, his camper stood emblazoned with 2nd Amendment stickers beside his mobile shop. It's an ode to Trump's salability. Peppered among the memorabilia were a few DeSantis-friendly hats, courtesy of his business partner who wanted to test the DeSantis market in Florida.

But DeSantis products rarely flew off the shelves like Trump merchandise.

"I started with 6,000 (DeSantis) T-shirts. I've still got two dozen here and that was six months ago," Prince said.

Prince, originally from Louisiana, followed Trump's brigade whenever the former president arrived in a close-by town. He said he wasn't a "Trumper" at first.

"I got into it for money, honestly," he said. Not too long after, however, his conversations with customers at Trump rallies changed his mind, just not in the way you think.Prince started to believe that Elvis was alive. He believes he is now a Southern Baptist preacher in Arkansas.

He also believes Michael Jackson and Princess Diana are still alive.

"She's now Queen Diana," he said, relaying stretches of Q-Anon conspiracy theories, an online, far-right political movement that gained prominence after Trump's election in 2016.

Many of these conspiracies, rooted in anti-Semitism, remain debunked by fact-checkers.

Prince said he's no stranger to people thinking his ideas are off-kilter.

"You'll see soon enough," he said. "When you talk to former military men at these rallies, you learn a lot," he continued, speaking at length about the far-right community he unearthed following Trump's presidency.

But the red-hat-wearing MAGA customers were nowhere to be found in Columbia. And in a bigger city, there were increased regulations and permits.

When Prince got off I-26 Saturday morning, he found an empty parking lot to set up shop. That didn't last very long because he said the property owners did not like the sheds and told him to leave. So he packed up and found a spot on the way to the fairgrounds. Just as he saw some foot traffic, he said law enforcement closed the roads around the fairgrounds to secure the space.

He didn't sell a single product Saturday.

That's why he prefers small towns and rallies.

"You don't always need permits. The people are so happy to see you there. They love you being there. I can set up shop without getting shut down," he said. "It's so foreign — business here."

Devyani Chhetri covers SC politics. Reach her via email at dchhetri@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Trump in Columbia SC amid indictment: Says he will repeal Bidenomics