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- Donald Trump Jr. asked Telegram users to donate money towards his father's legal fees.
- Donald Trump is suing Facebook, Twitter, and Google over censorship claims.
- Telegram users mocked Trump Jr. for asking for donations considering the Trump family's wealth.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Donald Trump Jr. was mocked after he asked followers to donate money to support his father's class-action lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
The former president announced on Wednesday that he was suing the three tech companies and their CEOs – Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai respectively – accusing them of censoring users.
In a Telegram post late Thursday, Trump Jr. said: "Guys my dad is suing big tech!!! I'd [sic] you can click link to donate to his PAC to help out!!!"
The image below shows a screenshot of Trump Jr.'s post on the left, and the page he linked to on the right:
Alia Shoaib
Several of the comments, which Insider has seen, criticized the fundraising call considering the Trump family's considerable wealth.
"Is this a joke? Don't the Trump's have billions of $$$$?" one user said in response to Trump Jr.'s call.
Forbes has estimated the elder Trump's net worth to be $2.4 billion.
"F---ing GRIFTER," another user wrote. "You should be ashamed. Wake up people. They are one of the richest families in the country and they need your hard earned dollars to do what he should have done for free."
Many Trump supporters also responded to Trump Jr.'s post by suggesting that the former president should have restrained tech companies while in office - which he repeatedly threatened to do.
Trump Jr.'s message linked to a webpage asking users to donate to the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, the fundraising arm of two Trump political action committees. The page said that 90% of the proceeds would go to the Save America PAC and 10% would go to the Make America Great Again PAC.
Donors are given the option to give amounts ranging from $50 to $5,000, or a custom figure.
This is not the first time the Trump family has solicited donations from supporters.
After losing the 2020 election, Trump asked for donations to fund his efforts to overturn the results. Last month, supporters were asked for "surprise" donations for Trump's birthday.
Trump's Save America PAC has raised more than $31 million since its inception in November 2020, according to OpenSecrets.com. As Insider has reported, there are not many restrictions on how PAC donations can be spent, and the raised funds could be used to finance the president's life or even a future run for office.
Trump's lawsuits against the tech companies, filed in the Southern District of Florida, came after Twitter and Facebook suspended him from their platforms after the Capitol riot.
Experts told Insider in January that it was within the companies' legal power to remove Trump from their platforms since "the First Amendment is a constraint on the power of government," not on the private sector.
