The first email landed four months ago with the subject line: “If not NOW, then when?” The sender was Brad Parscale, who was at that time US President Donald Trump’s campaign manager. I just spoke with President Trump and I’ve got some bad news. We reviewed the most recent donor list and he noticed that your name STILL WASN’T ON IT. I want President Trump to know that he still has your full support, which is why if you step up in the NEXT 30 MINUTES, I’ll guarantee that your name is at the TOP of the next list he sees. It was to be the first of many more Trump campaign emails that have since landed in my inbox — all of them misdirected, most intended for someone named Sarah. In the beginning, I was receiving about five a day. But lately, as election day approaches, it’s been more like a dozen. Cumulatively, there are now over 1,400 in my inbox, and still they keep coming.
They bark at you. They cajole you. Sometimes they even attempt to flatter you. They try to flog you t-shirts, MAGA caps, Trump-Pence beer glasses and autographed footballs. Like spam, they were unsolicited and, at first, unwelcome. But when Donald Trump appears at your virtual front door rattling the can for spare change, it’s hard to look away.
