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Lying about charity isn’t an ethical or nice thing to do. Saying that you’ve donated money to a cause, when you really haven’t, might sound like a little white lie, but the act of donating is seen as a social good. It’s something that people can look at and judge you as a good member of society. It’s great if it’s true, but if you’re lying about your charitable works, then you’re gaining good press for something you never did, which is unethical at the very least.
It may also be illegal in some cases. Donald Trump has appeared in the press numerous times over the course of this bid for the 2016 presidential election precisely because its become apparent that he isn’t honest about his donations. He has routinely claimed that he would donate the proceeds from various products, like his recent book, “university,” or vodk to charity. But it keeps coming back that those claims aren’t true, and that money isn’t going to charity. He’s just been using the promise of donations to entice people to buy his products.
So a number of experts have been trying to get New York Attorney General Eric Schneidermann to press charges against Trump for deceptive business practices. The Attorney General has not moved on these accusations, nor commented on whether he will, but the office is aware of the allegations.
It certainly seems like a valuable use of the Attorney General’s time. Fraud is fraud, regardless of who commits it, and it’s obvious that Trump has lied, time and time again, about his “charitable work.” But he hasn’t just used these lies to build his image as he has also used them to trick people into buying his products, and that’s not something we should let slide.