Timothy Mellon: Top Trump donor accused of making racist comments in his autobiography
Mr Mellon claims social programs are 'slavery redux'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A top donor to President Donald Trump has come under fire for using racial stereotypes to describe African Americans in his autobiography.
Timothy Mellon, the 77-year-old Mellon family heir, said that African Americans became "even more belligerent" after the expansion of social programs and said that individuals who rely on government assistance have become "slaves to a new Master, Uncle Sam."
According to the Washington Post, Mr Mellon has donated $30m into Republican super PACs in over five months.
In his biography, Mr Mellon referred to social safety programs as "slavery redux" and alleged that African American's votes were bought by Democrats promising them "freebies."
"For delivering their votes in the Federal Elections, they are awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on. The largess is funded by the hardworking folks, fewer and fewer in number, who are too honest or too proud to allow themselves to sink into this morass," Mr Mellon wrote.
Mr Mellon's family has had substantial wealth since the late 1860's.
One of Mr Mellon's donations was $10m to the America First Action Super PAC, the largest known contribution to the group. The PAC was founded by Linda McMahon, who Mr Trump appointed to head the Small Business Association and who is married to Mr Trump's longtime friend and owner of World Wrestling Entertainment Vince McMahon.
In addition to the donations Mr Mellon has made to Trump affiliated Super PACs, he has made smaller donations to various conservative causes and campaigns for years.
In 2010, Mr Mellon also donated $1.5 million to Arizona's legal defence fund to help defend the state's SB 1070 bill. The bill - Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act - was a strict anti-illegal immigration bill that was criticised for encouraging racial profiling.
Mr Mellon's donations haven't been solely focused on Republicans, however. He also gave a maxed-out donation to Democratic congresswoman and former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard's primary campaign and gave a donation to progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Mr Mellon's self-published autobiography was available for download on the website of his company, Pan Am Systems, but was recently removed following enquiries from the Washington Post.
A request for comment from Mr Mellon went unanswered as of the time of this writing.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments