Francis Suarez’s Messi debate stage ploy

As Miami mayor Francis X. Suarez looks to dribble onto the presidential debate stage in Milwaukee, he’s raffling off front-row tickets to soccer superstar Lionel Messi’s American debut to anyone who Venmo’s his campaign a single dollar — but campaign finance experts warn that the gimmick could pave the way for an influx of illegal foreign cash.

Suarez is shooting his shot, banking on Messi’s star power more than his own to vault him past the required 40,000 donors the Republican National Committee is requiring in order to debate. 

Picking Messi in Miami tickets makes sense for the mayor; his entire campaign team loves Messi, Cockburn understands, and Suarez has met the soccer star, who will be taking his talents to South Beach as Inter Miami’s newest player. Tickets for Messi’s Friday debut against Cruz Azul are stratospheric; while some seats cost as little as $260, the average price is $28,580 — with others coming in just under $60,000. 

Suarez’s Venmo plan differs from other tacks taken by Republicans like North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who’s handing out $20 “Biden Relief Cards” to anyone who gives him a buck, or former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who is paying people to recruit donors, as Cockburn previously reported. Whichever donor wins Suarez’s lottery will win two tickets to see Messi play, which are worth quite a bit more than Burgum’s “Biden Relief Cards.”

At issue is specifically that Suarez is soliciting contributions over Venmo, which does not require proof of citizenship. Theoretically, a foreign national could Venmo Suarez $1 — or $1,000 — and it would be next to impossible to prove. 

One veteran Republican fundraiser tells Cockburn that something could easily smell fishy. “I pity the compliance team that has to wade through this. The disclaimer comes in an image in a follow-up tweet that I’m sure nobody will get to, and the fact that Venmo is the preferred donation mechanism of choice leaves much to be desired with regard to preventing foreign nationals from contributing. The $1 threshold also means that Suarez won’t ‘legally’ have to disclose all of these donors.”

Suarez’s goal is already coming under fire from his fellow Republicans; a source from another presidential campaign intimated that taking donations via Venmo could be a potential source of FEC violations. Suarez’s camp rejects these claims, telling Cockburn that the protocol is that “the donors declare they are either citizens or green card holders.” So presumably the Suarez campaign is looking for something like this:

Because of Suarez’s preference for Venmo contributions, not everyone is convinced, however. “I’m not saying this is inviting foreign donors,” the GOP fundraiser cautioned, “but if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…” 

Cockburn has many US-based British colleagues who would love to see Messi play but are fearful of the campaign finance repercussions of donating to Suarez themselves. How would the campaign know which state each Venmo user is a resident of, and therefore ensure they are hitting 200 donors in twenty or more states or territories, as the RNC rules require? As last-ditch debate stage ploys go, Cockburn can’t kick the feeling that this one is something of an own goal…