'Pesky junk fees' at Trump resorts give opponents a potent new line of attack
Although Donald Trump has had small single-digital leads over President Joe Biden in some recent polls, Biden and Democratic strategists have a long list of things they can use to attack the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner — from abortion to Obamacare to voting rights. Another possible line of attack for Biden, according to the Daily Beast's Jake Lahut, is junk fees.
Biden has been campaigning against junk fees — something that Trump, Lahut reports, has been profiting from at his resorts and hotels.
"Ahead of the 2024 election," Lahut explains in an article published on December 1, "President Joe Biden is making an example out of businesses charging Americans pesky fees they hate, but have little choice in coughing up. Coincidentally — or not — it just so happens that Biden's likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, has raked in a small fortune on those very same fees."
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Lahut continues, "At least three of Trump's hotel properties bill guests for a 'resort fee,' a sneaky and pricey charge that covers an array of unspecified amenities, and typically only appears at the end of the online reservation process. The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, for instance, was built on a three-acre parking lot and doesn’t have the sprawling features and amenities of a typical resort there. But it charges a one-time resort fee of $132 — nearly as much as the $159 rate for one night in a king room at the hotel in January."
According to Lahut, Biden's reelection campaign "isn't ruling out highlighting these fees in their paid campaign ads next year."
T.J. Ducklo, a Biden campaign spokesperson, told the Beast, "Joe Biden working to eliminate the sky-high junk fees Donald Trump greedily charges guests at his failing hotels perfectly encapsulates the difference in their values. It's Scranton versus Park Ave., middle class versus the billionaire class — and it's why voters can't trust Trump in the White House to fight for them."
READ MORE: 'Imbalance of coverage': Biden campaign aims to amplify Trump’s 'slurring' and 'erratic behavior'
The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).
