Kimberly Guilfoyle speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2020.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
- Guilfoyle was paid $60,000 for a two-minute speech on Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol-riot investigators found.
- Two sources told The Washington Post that her money came from Turning Point Action.
- The sponsoring donor for that money was Julie Fancelli, daughter of Publix’s founder, The Post reported.
The daughter of the Publix grocery chain’s founder sponsored the January 6, 2021, speech given by Kimberly Guilfoyle, which lasted two-and-a-half minutes and cost $60,000, The Washington Post reported.
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who went on to work for former President Donald Trump and is now Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée, was given $60,000 for the speech by the conservative nonprofit Turning Point Action, The Post reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter. CNN also reported that Turning Point Action paid Guilfoyle.
The sponsoring donor for that payment was Julie Fancelli, the daughter of Publix founder George Jenkins, The Post reported.
Guilfoyle spoke at a Trump rally on January 6, 2021, which took place before the former president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop Joe Biden’s certification as president. Many of those supporters believed in Trump’s baseless allegation that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
According to The Post, Fancelli wired $650,000 to several groups helping with the rally eight days before January 6, 2021. This included the money for Guilfoyle’s speech, which was given to Turning Point Action, The Post reported.
The Post reported that Guilfoyle and Fancelli did not respond its requests for comment. Insider has contacted Publix, Turning Point Action, and Trump representatives for comment.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat on the January 6 committee, told CNN about the panel’s discovery of the $60,000 payment to Guilfoyle on Monday. She did not mention a connection to Fancelli.
“We know that Guilfoyle was paid for the introduction she gave at the speech on January 6. She received compensation for that,” Lofgren told CNN. “$60,000 for two-and-a-half minutes.”
“People were conned by the former president,” she said. “They were conned into believing that the election had been stolen and that they should go to the Capitol, as the president asked them to.”
Lofgren also questioned the ethics of Trump’s fundraising while making the baseless claims about election fraud, saying: “I’m not saying it’s a crime, but I think it’s a grift.”
On Tuesday, Insider’s Laura Italiano reported that New York Attorney General Letitia James plans to investigate the $250 million that Trump raised on bogus claims that the 2020 election was rigged.