Trump, Garrity hold lavish Mar-a-Lago fundraiser while gas hits $4 a gallon

Treasurer Stacy Garrity had other things to worry about while Pennsylvanians were getting ready for “No Kings” protests. 

Just hours before tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians took to the streets for the third nationwide “No Kings” demonstration, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity enjoyed a meal that was fit for a royal at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. 

Garrity, the Republican-backed candidate running against Gov. Josh Shapiro this November, hosted a lavish fundraiser at Trump’s palatial Palm Beach resort that included your choice of a wagyu strip steak, miso crusted sea bass, or a serving of Mary Trump’s meatloaf. 

“As Donald Trump’s failed agenda is spiking gas prices and forcing more Pennsylvanians to lose their health insurance, Garrity [spent] her weekend cozying up to Trump and wooing MAGA allies because she is a disastrous candidate running on Trump’s disastrous agenda,” Ava Pitruzzello, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said in a statement. 

She added, “every day it becomes clear Garrity will always defend Trump’s agenda of higher costs and less health care as it continues to hurt Pennsylvania families.”

A recent poll by Franklin and Marshall College from earlier this month shows that Pennsylvania residents aren’t buying Trump’s message with 61% of respondents disapproving of his job performance. 

Since then, the price of gas, which is hovering around $4 per gallon, has increased by more than 80 cents per gallon across the commonwealth after Trump launched his war with Iran. 

A video posted to Garrity’s social media account shows Garrity standing in the club’s dining room with Trump, who can be heard speaking to the crowd of supporters. 

“I gave [Garrity] an endorsement, she should win,” Trump said. “I am very unimpressed with Shapiro. I watched him on an interview, he’s a stiff. He’s a stiff.”

Other social media posts show that Garrity attended the event with Cliff Maloney, CEO of Citizens Alliance. In the past, the organization received money from political action committees associated with Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey Yass to unseat and replace incumbent Republicans with more conservative candidates during primary elections. 

Garrity came under fire last month for admitting that she made a secret promise to Trump in order to secure his endorsement, and she still hasn’t revealed what the two talked about in their phone conversation. 

“While Pennsylvanians are literally paying the price for Donald Trump’s chaos, from the supermarket to the doctor’s office to the gas pump, Stacy Garrity’s sole focus is on proving her MAGA bona fides — cheering on the harmful policies driving costs even higher, peddling dangerous election denial conspiracies, and attacking fundamental freedoms,” Izzi Levy, a spokesperson with the Democratic Governor’s Association (DGA) said in a statement.

“It’s no wonder Garrity’s campaign is floundering when she cares more about getting photo-ops with Trump at Mar-a-Lago than fighting for the Pennsylvania families who he’s screwing over at every turn.”

This article was updated with a statement from the DGA