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In recent weeks, there’s been significant chatter that Donald Trump may have soured on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), after the president-elect and his allies thwarted Johnson’s original short-term funding bill to keep the government open.
On Monday, Trump appeared to put that rumor to bed in a lengthy, rambling Truth Social post mostly concerned with other topics. First, Trump touted his “landslide” presidential victory in “ALL SEVEN SWING STATES,” before accusing his opponent Kamala Harris of “illegally” buying endorsements from Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Next, he claimed Democrats weaponized the Justice Department and FBI against him. Finally, Trump offered Johnson his “Complete & Total Endorsement.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man,” the president-elect wrote. “He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN.”
In his post backing Johnson, Trump claimed that Vice President Harris’ campaign paid $11 million to Beyoncé, $2 million to Oprah, and $500,000 to Sharpton. Trump made the same claims over the weekend, writing: “Are the Democrats allowed to pay $11,000,000, $2,000,000, and $500,000 to get the ENDORSEMENT of Beyoncé, Oprah, and Reverend Al?” He added, “Totally against the law, and I have heard there are many others!!!”
For the most part, these claims are false.
The claim about Beyoncé appears to stem from a post made by right-wing commentator Candace Owens, who said the star singer was paid $10 million by the Harris campaign. Instagram took down that post, and Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, disputed the rumor last month, calling it “False Information” while writing that “Beyoncé did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris’s Rally in Houston.”
Ultimately, the Harris campaign did report paying $165,000 to Beyoncé’s production company, Parkwood Production Media, in November.
Harris’ campaign similarly reported paying $1 million to Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Productions — specifically to stage and staff their livestreamed town hall together in Detroit. “I did not take any personal fee,” Winfrey wrote on Instagram. “However the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.”
Trump’s claim that Harris had illegally paid them likely has the situation exactly backward. Federal campaign finance laws bar companies from donating to candidates, so the campaign would have to pay fair market value for any work done by Beyoncé and Winfrey’s companies.
The Harris campaign separately did pay $500,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network a few weeks before the reverend interviewed the vice president on MSNBC, according to reporting by the Washington Free Beacon. A spokesperson for the network said that “MSNBC was unaware of the donations made to the National Action Network.”
Trump’s complaint about the payments to Sharpton’s group may have more merit — it certainly raises ethical questions — though it’s not clear whether it would violate any election laws.
