Donald Trump’s former White House aide is under fire after a video showed him claiming to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
Johnny McEntee, formerly the White House Presidential Personnel Office under the former president, posted a video on TikTok in which he discusses the purported scheme to “clean up the community.”
“So I always keep this fake Hollywood money in my car, so when a homeless person asks for money, and I give them like a $5 bill, I feel good about myself, they feel good,” said McEntee, also a senior advisor to Project 2025. “And then when they go to use it, they get arrested, so I’m actually helping to clean up the community and get them off the street.”
It can if you try to pass it off as real money.
someone would have to prove you did it on purpose knowing it was fake, and that requires getting arrested and charged in the first place and making it all the way to court
You mean like making a video where you say you are hoping people will try to use it as legal tender, and are distributing it for that express purpose?
which part of that is illegal?
Uh, distributing known fake bills that you intend people to use as legal tender? Is this a trick question?
Edit: you will probably have the same response here as elsewhere.
Or you just admit it like this moron in the article.
admit what? handing people prop money? there’s nothing illegal with that or even proof he actually did it. not trying to defend anyone but just saying. these strawmen are a bit silly IMO
I’m not sure why you missed this quote, but apparently you did:
He is blatantly admitting passing off fake money as real money.
“passing off” implies trying to spend it yourself, knowing it’s fake. which isn’t happening here.
I’m not sure why you think giving money to a homeless person isn’t spending it, but it is.
I don’t see where any of the definitions here apply: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/spending
So you are arguing that donating knowingly fake money to any sort of cause is legal? If you give the American Cancer Society $10,000 in Hollywood money, not letting them know it’s fake, and then admit it, there’s no legal issue there because it isn’t spending?