Donald Trump has specifically requested that I not share this with anyone, but even though I'm one of his "BEST" supporters, I'm simply too excited to follow his wishes on this one.
President Trump personally sent me an email — and by that, I mean a correspondence "ONLY meant" for me — that has given me the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to "enter to win" a baseball that he signed while attending the World Series in Atlanta.
I know he was there at the game — and he probably signed the ball between the times he was chip-chopping to mock Native Americans along with the Atlanta Braves fans. I saw the video of him doing that alongside our doting first lady.
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All I need to do is to contribute to the "Save America" fund for our real president and I have a real chance to win this treasure of a lifetime. Some people are saying that it's the strongest and greatest offer ever made.
Here's what the email said:
"Ray,
"You have always been an incredible Patriot and I want to offer you something special.
"I hand-signed a BASEBALL while I was in Atlanta watching the game and I want to make sure it's given to one of my BEST supporters. My team told me you rank among the top in every category.
"Since I am determined to give this baseball to only the most loyal of my supporters, I need you to keep this email confidential, Ray. It's only meant for YOU.
"I will be looking over the entry list soon - make sure I see your name there, Ray."
I'm just speechless. I have no idea how our president's team determined that I "rank among the top in every category." I don't even know how I got on the mailing list, but I'm proud to have been there since just before the November 3 insurrection.
I'm sure there are cynics out there who would question whether President Trump will personally look over the entry list. They'd say, "Don't worry: He won't really know if your name's not there."
Well, did the Fake News Media say that about Santa Claus?
I do miss the good old days. Do you know that from October 30 to January 6, I received 373 emails from our president and some other amazing people that I'm sure he told to contact me? I heard from Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and even Mike Pence during that time.
But the letters I'll always remember are the personal ones from the president himself. Here's one of the first that he sent, on November 5, two days after the November 3 insurrection:
"Friend,
"THE DEMOCRATS WILL TRY TO STEAL THIS ELECTION!
"Just like I predicted from the start, mail-in ballots are leading to CHAOS like you've never seen, plain and simple! The Radical Left is going to do whatever it takes to try and rip a TRUMP-PENCE VICTORY away from you, and that's why I'm coming to you now.
"I need YOUR HELP to ensure we have the resources to protect the results. We can't allow the Left-wing MOB to undermine our Election. I'm asking my fiercest and most loyal defenders, like YOU, to FIGHT BACK!
"I warned the Nation this would happen. I knew the Democrats wouldn't be able to accept another CRUSHING defeat, so now they're trying to mess with the results. It's madness!
"I'm relying on your support right now more than I ever have before. Can I count on you to step up and FIGHT BACK!"
I don't mind sharing this letter with you today because it's proof that President Trump was wise enough to have known that this election might get stolen from him by Democrats and the Far Left and the Fake News Media and some Republicans in Georgia, Arizona and Michigan.
He told us that this would happen before if it even did. What more evidence does someone need to know that this was a steal?
Some of his other personal letters really made me understand what was happening. Like this one that arrived on Thanksgiving Day in 2020:
"Friend,
"Despite the Left's attempts to undermine this Election, I will NEVER stop fighting for YOU.
"My Administration is achieving things no one thought possible - the stock market is up BIG, the coronavirus vaccine is underway and will be completed safely very soon.
"We are accomplishing so much, which is even more reason to step up and DEFEND THE ELECTION! We cannot let the Democrats STEAL this Election from your all-time favorite President. They'll DESTROY everything we've worked so hard for.
"I'm calling on YOU to FIGHT BACK. We need to bolster our critical Election Defense Fund if we're going to keep going. We can't do this without you.
"I had such a big lead in all of these key battleground states late into Election night, only to see the leads miraculously disappear as the days went by. Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings move forward, but only if we have the resources to KEEP FIGHTING!
"You've never let me down before, and I know you won't start now.
"Contribute $5 RIGHT NOW to stand with me and to DEFEND the integrity of our Election."
Looking back, that had so much it in, especially arriving on the holiday and all. I must admit I hadn't noticed the part about the vaccine being safe, but he sure was right to tell me that he was my "all-time favorite President."
But I do feel a little guilty. You see, I forgot to send him money that time, or ever. And he ended up being proven right again. The president's legal proceedings didn't work as planned, but the Fake News Media didn't tell us the full story, which is that the legal efforts only failed because the president didn't receive enough resources to keep fighting.
Still, the most important thing about this latest personal note I received from President Trump is that I finally heard from him again.
The letter was dated November 16. That's ten months and ten days since I last heard from him, at 12:44 p.m. CST on January 6. That one arrived precisely fourteen minutes after police were overwhelmed by MAGA patriots on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, where they had been sent to stop the election certification by our all-time favorite president.
Even as one of President Trump's BEST supporters, I hadn't heard from him about donating money since.
But I have now.
Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at [email protected] or catch him on Donnybrook at 7 p.m. on Thursdays on the Nine Network and St. Louis In the Know With Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).
