7-Year-Old Boy Raising Money for Trump's Border Wall Hits $22,000
Benton Stevens, a 7-year-old from Austin, Texas, has received national attention after raising $22,000 to help fund a section of the border wall at the U.S-Mexico border.
The boy raised the impressive amount by selling hot chocolate, local news station KOAT reported.
While Benton is pleased with the $22,000, he said his goal is to raise a grand total of $50,000 for the project.
He said he plans on raising the extra money by selling lemonade.
“Since it’s about to be summer,” he told KOAT, “I’m doing lemonade.”
Benton’s mother, Jennifer Stevens, said her son’s fundraising efforts began back in February after he watched President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
Benton said he was inspired to raise the money for President Trump because he “saw that Trump really wanted to build a wall.”
BOY FOR BORDER WALL: This boy set up a hot chocolate stand — complete with Nancy Pelosi or Beto O’Rourke marshmallows to melt — to raise money for a border wall https://t.co/7ciJS0CDQz
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) February 19, 2019
President Trump’s son, Don Jr, praised the young entrepreneur, tweeting, “Love American entrepreneurship. Well done buddy!”
Love American entrepreneurship. Well done buddy!
Benton Stevens of Austin sells hot chocolate for border wall money https://t.co/ELPYSXy5Xp— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 21, 2019
However, according to his mother, Benton has also received backlash for his project.
She told KXAN that someone even referred to his son as “little Hitler.”
“People think he’s brainwashed,” she told the news station. “Well, of course, he supports Trump because we do, and he hears how we talk and this and that. Call that brainwashing, but I call it parenting, because we instill our values in him.”
The money Benton raised is being donated to the non-profit organization called We Build the Wall, Inc.
The organization started in December of 2018 with Go Fund Me campaign by Purple Heart recipient and triple-amputee veteran Brian Kolfage and has raised over $23 million.
While the organization has built half a mile of the wall, it hasn’t come without controversy.
The group has been served with a cease and desist by the local government according to KOAT.
However, the news station says that We Build the Wall insists it has all the permits and approvals and “the wall is under full compliance with local laws.”
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