On August 5, Adin Ross invited U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump for an interview on his Kick stream. However, the streamer has faced allegations of breaking Federal Election Campaign (FEC) rules during the airing of the interview.
Shortly after making an appearance and giving an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists, the former president returned for a more lowkey event where he agreed to join Adin Ross in the world of livestreaming.
Although the overall experience was lighthearted, a few observant individuals pointed out that Ross may have potentially broken FEC regulations by giving Trump not just one, but two costly gifts.
Adin gifted Trump with a Rolex Day Date, valued at over $30,000 when purchased new, as well as a Tesla Cybertruck adorned with the iconic image of Trump standing strong following the July 13 assassination attempt.
Adin Ross just gifted Donald Trump a custom Cybеrtruck pic.twitter.com/OvuwYxMLbT
— dexerto (@dexerto) August 5, 2024
The total value of the combined gifts is estimated to exceed $100,000, which could potentially violate FEC regulations as they were given to a presidential candidate.
According to the FEC, individuals are limited to a maximum contribution of $3,300 to a campaign, with gifts being counted towards this limit.
According to Brendan Fischer, the deputy executive director of watchdog group Documented, which examines money in politics, the gifts were given to Trump as a candidate and because he is running for office. As a result, they are considered contributions to his campaign.
Fischer predicted that once Trump consults with his lawyers, there will likely be an announcement that he will either decline the gifts or choose to donate them to charity.
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, further explained to Rolling Stone that the campaign plans to seek guidance from the FEC by submitting an advisory opinion on how to handle the donated gifts.
Streamer Adin Ross gives Trump a Rolex — it looks something like a gold Daydate with a green dial, which would definitely be above the $3300 FEC contribution limit. pic.twitter.com/MQt5DVRqfr
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) August 5, 2024
According to Fischer, the watch and car could potentially be viewed as an illegal contribution. However, Trump has the option to formally reject the gifts and Adin could plead ignorance to the law. Fischer believes that the FEC is unlikely to devote significant resources to investigating this matter.
The broadcast was the most viewed stream Adin had ever had, reaching a peak of over 583k viewers. This was just short of meeting the $100,000 bet that Ross had placed with the Kick CEO, in which the stream needed to reach over 600k peak viewers.
Like President Nixon in 1969, this is not the first instance where a president has declined a watch as a gift. Omega had also extended a gold Speedmaster to President Nixon after the NASA astronauts journeyed to the moon with the iconic timepiece.
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