Donald Trump called for prosecution of music superstar Beyoncé over the weekend, based on what actually happened.
Trump claimed in a social media post that Beyoncé allegedly violated the law at an October 2024 event in Houston for her recognition of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. But there is no basis for Trump's claim that Beyoncé received $11 million in payments related to Harris' campaign, let alone especially for recognition.
Federal campaign spending records show that the Harris campaign made $165,000 payments to Beyoncé’s production company, which listed it as a “sports production” fee. A Harris campaign spokesman told Deadline last year that they did not pay celebrity spokespersons, but that the law requires payments related to their appearance.
Regardless of the advantages of this particular $165,000 spending, that's far from $11 million. Since last year among Trump supporters on social media, the claim “$10 million” began to spread among Trump supporters, so no one has any evidence to pay Beyoncé an eight-figure endorsement payment. Factcheck.org and Politifact investigated the “$10 million” claim during the campaign, but found no basis.
The White House did not immediately respond to a late Saturday CNN request to prove Trump's $11 million figure. When Trump previously cited unfounded numbers, he described his source in the vagueest words in an interview in February: “Someone showed me something. They gave her $11 million.”
A Harris spokesman referred CNN on Saturday to Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, who called the $10 million payment a “lie” and noted that it was removed as “false information” by Instagram.
“In fact: Beyonce didn't receive a penny at the rally held by Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris (SIC) in Houston,” Knowles wrote.
A Beyoncé spokesman told Politifact in November that the payment of about $10 million was “more than ridiculous.”
Trump has recovered false claims in a social media post in midnight Scotland in the early hours of Sunday morning, and he is visiting. He wrote that he is studying the “facts” of the Democrats “acknowledge the “10 million dollar payments to singer Beyoncé to gain recognition.”
Democratic officials actually refused to pay a $11 million claim. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request, asking any evidence of Democrats' recognition of such payments.
Trump continues to criticize other payments from Harris' campaign to organizations linked to prominent spokespersons. He asserted that there was no evidence that these payments were inaccurately described in the expenditure record. He falsely asserted that paying political representation is “completely illegal”, although no federal law prohibits recognition.
“Kamala, and everyone who has received recognized money, has violated the law. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention on this matter.”
Trump has repeatedly called for prosecution of political opponents. His Saturday post about Harris and celebrity endorsements was an escalation in May when he said he would ask for a “major investigation” into the subject, but did not explicitly mention the prosecution.