Professional boxer and YouTuber Jake Paul put $3,300 into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential bid, a Daily Dot analysis of Federal Election Commission filings found.
According to the FEC, Paul made the contribution on Sept. 11, marking his first-ever federal-level campaign donation. At the time, RFK Jr. was running a primary challenge to incumbent President Joe Biden. He's since switched his campaign to an independent 2024 bid.
The Los Angeles mailing address listed on the FEC filing matches addresses listed on Boxing Bullies Inc.'s Bizapedia page detailing its business registration with the Nevada Secretary of State.
Boxing Bullies is Paul's nonprofit, which aims "to instill self confidence, leadership, and courage within the youth through the sport of boxing while using our platform, voice, and social media to fight back against bullying."
On the donation to RFK, Paul's occupation is listed as "entrepreneur."
According to Bizapedia, the director, treasurer and secretary for Boxing Bullies—the latter of whom is Paul's mother Pamela Stepnick—all listed their address as the same Los Angeles office noted in the FEC filing.
The same address was also linked to Paul's company 10 Digit Media, Inc.
Paul has shown an interest in the 2024 election, particularly in helping involve candidates on social media platforms like TikTok to reach a younger audience.
"So I’m meeting with the potential presidential candidates," Paul wrote on his Instagram story in September, Fox News reported. "Mainly because I think this is the most important election in the past 100 years … we need someone great. America is falling. So I feel a responsibility to use my platform to help America and my future kids who one day will have to go to school in all this madness."
He said that he's "pretty neutral on all policies and want the truth to be told," adding "People think this shit isn’t important and it so is! Your vote matters."
Oddly, the same day Paul made the contribution to Kennedy, he posted a video of himself meeting Vivek Ramaswamy and jokingly boxing with him, captioning it, "Vivek for President?"
Ramaswamy—who dropped out of the race immediately after the Iowa caucus—similarly posted a video on Sept. 12 of the two of them playing tennis together.
Paul then posted a TikTok announcing Ramaswamy's arrival to the social media platform, stating that he got on board "because i believe our politicians of the future should connect with gen z and milennials on social where we all live and breathe."
Soon after meeting with Ramaswamy, Paul linked up with Kennedy Jr.
In late September, Paul posted a video revealing he was teaching Kennedy how to use TikTok.
"I’m teaching the underdog presidential candidates (who I think are best for this country) how to use Tik Tok because they need the youth to beat the big dogs," Paul said.
"We’ve lost sight of the UNITED States Of America. The division in this country is frightening," he added. "REMEMBER we are 'one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all'. Connection to our leaders helps eliminate division."
RFK Jr. originally launched a bid on the Democratic ticket to primary Biden. However, he failed to gain traction in his efforts. He's been criticized for pushing views on vaccines outside of mainstream scientific consensus. He's also claimed that antidepressant use explains America's mass shooting epidemic. In October, he pivoted, switching to run as an independent.
The move hasn't seemed to aid in his efforts to disrupt the Washington establishment. While he has high favorability numbers, his support ticks well below that of Biden and former President Donald Trump.
While records only show a donation to RFK, they are currently only available until the end of September 2023. It's possible Paul made additional donations in recent months.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post EXCLUSIVE: Jake Paul donated $3,300 to RFK Jr.’s 2024 run—while hyping ‘Vivek for President’ appeared first on The Daily Dot.
from Tech https://ift.tt/zoKdU41
0 Comments