politics

How Did Donald Trump Jr. Really Get on the Best-Seller List?

Photo: Amazon

This month, First Boy Donald Trump Jr. published his first book Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. In it, the noted political scientist bemoans the fact that, as the “son of a rich white guy living in 2019,” he is unable to voice his opinion — even though he has just had 287 pages of his opinion published by Hachette’s imprint Center Street.

A week after it was published, Triggered landed on the top of the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. With a small caveat. On the Times’ list, next to the title, was a small dagger, meant to indicate that some retailers reported receiving bulk orders of the item. In other words, the book had skyrocketed up the charts due in part to some people or groups buying up massive quantities of it.

Earlier this month, AP White House reporter Zeke Miller noted that the Republican National Committee was giving out copies of Trump Jr.’s book to donors, adding, “This is a tactic that helps boost reported sales.”

Did the RNC artificially boost Triggered’s sales numbers by bulk-ordering copies? They deny it. In a statement to “Page Six,” an RNC representative said: “We haven’t made a large bulk purchase, but are ordering copies to keep up with demand.”

But according to a new report from the New York Times, a financial disclosure form filed to the Federal Election Commission shows that on October 29, one week before Triggered was published, the RNC paid $94,800 to the bookseller chain Books-a-Million for what they called “donor mementos.”

RNC spokesperson Mike Reed confirmed that the order was for copies of Triggered, adding that the committee had also purchased more copies in November. As for his previous statement denying the committee had made large bulk purchases, he said: “We stand by our statement.”

A small comfort: At least Donald Trump Jr. hasn’t talked about his dad’s D in a while.

This post has been updated.

How Did Donald Trump Jr. Really Get on the Best-Seller List?