Jets owner and prolific GOP fund-raising machine Woody Johnson has jumped aboard the Trump Train and pledged to make it rain for the presumptive Republican nominee.
Johnson’s support is key beyond the bottom line, because he represents the GOP establishment that has struggled to embrace Donald Trump‘s campaign, Bloomberg News reported.
Johnson had supported Jeb Bush, who was a favorite punching bag of Trump’s during the primary campaign.
Trump steamrolled over the former Florida governor by casting him as a “low energy” contender who couldn’t get the job done in the White House.
The Jets owner is now among a small but growing circle of rich, traditional Republicans who have backed Trump – including Las Vegas hotel mogul Sheldon Adelson, investor and Christian activist Foster Friess and healthcare investor Fred Eshelman, Bloomberg News reported.
Trump has jumped in recent polls, pulling even with likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in hypothetical November match-ups.
Trump’s rise comes despite ongoing questions about his refusal to release tax returns – which, while not mandated, has been a decades-long tradition of major party candidates.
Trump’s tough-talking campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, appearing on CBS’s “This Morning” on Tuesday, reiterated his boss’ insistence that he won’t release returns while being audited by IRS.
Lewandowski said lawyers have told Trump not make his tax returns public.
“These taxes are under routine audit right now,” Lewandowski told CBS. “And from every attorney that he has talked to, including people like [Fox News’] Greta Van Susteren, said, `As your legal counsel, if I were to be your counsel, I would never allow you to release those taxes until the routine IRS audit is done.’ This is a fault of the IRS.”
The IRS has said it’s not allowed to discuss any individual case – but claimed there’s no prohibition against anyone releasing his or her returns.
While Lewandowski and “This Morning” host Charlie Rose sparred, veteran comedian Steve Martin took it all in from the show’s green room.
Martin, writer of current Broadway show “Bright Star,” followed Lewandowski to the “This Morning” stage and yucked: “I promise you I will release my tax returns – after the Tonys but not before the Tonys.”