(CNN) – Business mogul Donald Trump will be recognized as the 2012 Statesman of the Year by the Sarasota, Florida, Republican Party the day before the Republican National Convention opens in Tampa next month.
Tickets for the August 26 dinner go as high as $1,000 per person, which include a private meet-and-greet with Trump, according to an invitation flyer for the event.
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Trump has endorsed the presidential run of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, though Trump's repeated questioning of President Barack Obama's birthplace and birth certificate have overshadowed events where they have appeared together.
Trump initially flirted with his own run for the presidency, but dropped out of the field in the spring.
He has appeared this year at state-level Republican Party events, such as a fundraiser for the North Carolina GOP last month, where he stood by his so-called "birther" comments and said waging war with Iran may be "good politics" for the incumbent.
Rep. Vern Buchanan, who is the subject of four federal and Congressional investigations into his business practices, has donated at least $15,000 in conjunction with the event, according to the August invitation. Buchanan is the head of fundraising for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect Republicans to Congress.
- CNN's Steve Brusk and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report
From CNN Politics
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Trump as Republican statesman of the year. This speaks volumns of the party and their worship of greed and ego driven moguls.
Again, those with great wealth/debt are revered among the party of the upper class. If memory serves properly, there have been several trips to the courts to sort out one personal economic crisis or another. Why not honor a person that can't help but live beyond their means, while making others believe they're constantly flush? The party of the (would be champions of the working class), has many flaws upon the armor. WAKE-UP.
laughable in so many ways
This is a joke...right?!
Perfect, In a nutshell why I’m disappointed in the GOP and they are not getting my votes anymore. Nice work GOP give a guy an award who owns the dubious distinction of having companies that have declared bankruptcy four times.
Doug Heller, the executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said Trump is the "most egregious, almost comical example" of the disparity between what the average American faces when going through bankruptcy and the "ease with which the very rich can move in and out of bankruptcy." ABC News April 21, 2011
He wants to hang out with his buddy Mitt(I have nothing to offer)McCain, who will make sure that the Donald gets into the backrooms in Tampa.
Oh, congratulation GOP! How wonderful!! The party of “NO” really knows how to award the ones from the bottom of the barrel!! What was the requirement for this award again? Outrageously stupid??? Well, then it fits!!
Right - Trump and Buchanan using their money (and the money Buchanan's ripped off others) to pat themselves on the back and wrap themselves in our precious flag. The people of Sarasota should be ashamed that this garbage goes on but – unfortunately – they're a bunch of lemmings who drink the koolaid.
In the not-too-distant future, after all the Trump media circus has played out and the country is back on its feet, this kind of stunt will be seen by historians as about as relevant as bubble-gum music in the 80s. The sad part is that we lose time not fixing things that these greedy blowhards break.
this why the repubs are so dispicable and delutionary, they will latch on to anything negative their leaders spew, whilst it has Obama attatched to it. they've seen their leaders in Congress blocked jobs after jobs, just because of their hatred of the man that took the world from collapse to a country that is striving is so immense. we are in a global market now, where companies are clawing and scratching to compete, now their leaders want to unleashed our companies to go to cheaper countries and sell their products to the world. lesson, the repubs have been cutting taxes in their home states for companies to leave other states and come their way. what will you expect, when mitten cuts the thread that binds america to it's businesses, dam right, to survive, these businesses are going to take
their businesses to china with along with American jobs, especially when they are given a tax break to do so from mitten. in a time of computer system and robots taking over our job markets, American can il afford to let go the few jobs thats left to countries that will charge them half price.
lol, thats right, reward the Clowns in the GOP. Dont forget palin, santorum, etal
The FL pubes will give an award to a birther who made billions by declaring bankruptcy and ripping people off. Once again, Canadians visiting Florida in the winter have done far more for out state's economy than the elected republicans who waste our time and money in Tallahassee.
That says everything about the GOP.
Statesman and Trump in the same sentence. LOL to the max
Perhaps if these folks knew what a statesman was, they would not have chosen The Donald.
Isolate any particular group long enough and anything is possible.
This seems about right. For the GOP, Trump is a statesman.
This proves how out of touch with reality the Republican party is. Trump a statesman? The man is a national joke and embarrassment.
I sincerely hope this is a publicity stunt. I am truly ashamed for Florida.
That shows the money & greed guide all GOP decisions.
A reality Television star? Statesman? Have I died & gone to hell?
That's the first and hopefully last time I've heard the words "Trump" and "statesman" used in the same sentence. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Abe Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt....these are some of the truest examples of statesmen. Trump is a loud, crass, egocentric bag of hot air and constant self-promotion. There isn't an ounce of statesman in him. It's sad that either his Mom or Dad (or both) apparently did not compliment him enough while they helped their rich boy become a very very rich man.
A prize for running with the most looney right-wing "issue" – what an honor.
Must have been slim pickings.
This is a joke, right?
Only the GOP can made such a misguided choice. Before the tea partiers got hold of the helm to dictate GoP policies, I could name quite a few Republcans for that title but now I cannot think of anyone. Keep saying and doing stupid things and the GOP will be relegated to a fringe party in the not oo distant future.