Why are people donating millions of dollars to ridiculous wall-related GoFundMe campaigns?


GoFundMe users are throwing around lots of cash on increasingly ridiculous border wall-related campaigns.
It all started on Sunday when Brian Kolfage launched a page on the crowdfunding platform calling for Trump supporters to bypass Congress and just raise money to build Trump's wall themselves. The goal? Oh, just $1 billion. In less than a week, more than $12.6 million has been raised, with one big-spending user apparently donating $50,000.
Since that campaign started to gain traction, two competing pages have popped up, including one looking to raise $100 million to provide migrants with ladders to get over the wall. It launched Wednesday and has raised more than $89,000. But ladders might not even be required if another GoFundMe page is successful: User Luke O'Neil is looking to raise $200 million to build — wait for it — a "series of giant escalators" over the wall.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If this all sounds too ridiculous to be true, that's because it is. Both pages are fairly tongue-in-cheek and specify that the funds raised will actually go toward a nonprofit group that provides education and legal services to refugees and immigrants.
As for the millions being raised on the original GoFundMe page to pay for the wall (which President Trump repeatedly promised would be paid for by Mexico), any money donated to the U.S. government actually just goes into a fund for "general use" and wouldn't be designated for any particular purpose, Business Insider reports, although the page's founder insists he has an in with the White House to get around that, per NBC News. More than likely, all the people who have donated to this campaign would just be giving the federal government free cash to use on anything but building a wall, which would cost about 21 times the page's goal ridiculously lofty goal anyway.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot