Trump brags Don Jr’s new book ‘is number one on NY Times Bestseller List’ — but his campaign bought the book in bulk

President Donald Trump has called The New York Times “fake news,” “biased,” “inaccurate,” and “a Fraud” with “Zero Credibility.”
But Wednesday night he was only too happy to cite the “failing” paper of record to brag that Donald Trump, Jr.’s new book, “Triggered,” is at the top of the Times’ charts.
Wow! Was just told that my son’s book, “Triggered,” is Number One on The New York Times Bestseller List. Congratulations Don!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1573703232
And while that may be true, there’s one large caveat that totally destroys the Trump family’s pride.
As this graphic shows, there’s a “dagger” next to Trump Jr.’s book: †.
As the Times notes, “bulk purchases appear with a dagger (†).”
That means there have been large “Institutional, special interest, group or bulk purchases” of the book, perhaps in this case by the RNC or other political entities, like the Trump campaign.
In fact, Popular Information and ThinkProgress founder Judd Legum last week reported the Trump campaign is “using campaign funds to bulk purchase his son’s book.”
NEW: Trump using campaign funds to bulk purchase his son’s book https://t.co/McdhDJ8ymn— Judd Legum (@Judd Legum) 1572998304
Here’s the reported text of a Trump fundraising email from the Twitter account Trump Fundraising Emails:
“Contribute $50 or more TODAY to claim your HAND-SIGNED copy of my new book TRIGGERED. >> (Graphic) CONTRIBUTE $… https://t.co/q3K8HJVi8u— Trump Fundraising Emails (@Trump Fundraising Emails) 1573002989
The email is signed by Donald Trump, Jr.
Here’s how some are responding:
@realDonaldTrump Helps when RNC & Trump Campaign buy the book in bulk: using donor money to line Trump Family walle… https://t.co/z3HEz1uiN0— David Rothschild 🌻 (@David Rothschild 🌻) 1573703445
Dirty book: Bulk buys from RNC and other pro-Trump orgs lifted Don Jr’s ‘Tiggered’ to top of best seller list. h/t… https://t.co/qVP0DPYoSo— Jeff Stein (@Jeff Stein) 1573748079
Bulk-purchasing your kid's book (a fact confirmed by a special notation the NYT put beside the book) because you th… https://t.co/ItnuXvqhak— Seth Abramson (@Seth Abramson) 1573742691