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Episode 1269Oct 23, 2024

Texts, emails and the deception of elderly political donors

Hundreds of elderly Americans, including those with dementia, were misled into giving away millions in campaign donations.

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Many campaigns use a feature that allows automatic, recurring payments that donors need to manually opt out of.
Many campaigns use a feature that allows automatic, recurring payments that donors need to manually opt out of.
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As Election Day looms closer, the emails and texts from campaigns pleading for money continue to flood voters’ inboxes. A CNN investigation found that some of these tactics have misled elderly Americans into giving away millions of dollars. We’ll get into the financial consequences of aggressive campaign fundraising strategies. Then, we’ll discuss how Republican pundits are responding to former President Donald Trump’s shocking statements about military affairs. And, we’ll talk about a payment owed from a defamation case: a luxury New York apartment.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Join Kai Ryssdal and Kimberly Adams for a live taping of “Make Me Smart” on Oct. 25 in Boston. In-person tickets are sold out, but you can still join us virtually. Get your tickets here.

The Team

Texts, emails and the deception of elderly political donors