The page was set up by Brian Kolfage, a triple-amputee Air Force veteran who received the Purple Heart.
“As a veteran who has given so much, 3 limbs, I feel deeply invested to this nation to ensure future generations have everything we have today. Too many Americans have been murdered by illegal aliens and too many illegals are taking advantage of the United States taxpayers with no means of ever contributing to our society,” his page reads.
He noted that the U.S. government has accepted large private donations in the past, citing billionaire David Rubenstein’s $7.5 million contribution to repair cracks in the Washington Monument in 2012 following an earthquake.
By the morning of Dec. 20, the GoFundMe hit $4 million, and by the late afternoon, it was $7 million. More than 118,000 people have contributed to the fund so far.
“If the 63 million people who voted for Trump each pledge $80, we can build the wall,” Kolfage said on the page. He added that it equates to about $5 billion and said that “even if we get half, that's half the wall." He added, "We can do this.”
One-hundred percent of the donations, he said “will go to the Trump Wall,” he is “working with a law firm on a legal document that will bind the government to [use] the funds for the border wall itself, nothing else.”
More Details
Kolfage said he wanted to let donors or potential donors know that it isn't a scam.GoFundMe is paying attention to the campaign, it confirmed.
According to his website, Kolfage lost most of his limbs after a 107mm rocket shell exploded three feet from him in 2004 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Supporters Voice Enthusiasm
Americans from many different ethnic backgrounds have voiced their support for Kolfage's "We the People Will Fund the Wall" campaign, some of which Kolfage has shared on his social media.One supporter, Yuri, who is a U.S. permanent resident from Mexico, shared, "I am proud of my roots and where I come from, but I am a conservative and a Trump supporter.
"I have supported him since day one even though that meant to distance myself from by birth family in Mexico and friends," he explained.
Yuri, who referred to himself as a "legal immigrant Trump supporter," thanked Kolfage for what he is doing to support the President's efforts to secure the U.S. Mexico border. Kolfage himself, has previously told the media that his mother's family had also been immigrants to the United States from Mexico.
Kolfage, 37, earlier explained that he set a the limit to the campaign to $1 billion as GoFundMe campaigns were capped to that amount. He said that he intends to keep campaigning to reach the $5 billion that the Trump administration said it needs to fund the build.
"People want this and they want a way to give for something they're passionate about," he added. "They just didn't have a way to give because politicians weren't giving them those avenues to contribute or to do something."