Campus News

Trump campaign’s job posting for student endorsements taken down

 

Trump Driving Job

The post, which was up since March, asked students to participate in endorsing the campaign by putting stickers on their cars. | Henry Sturm/The Cougar

Donald Trump Presidential Campaign 2016″ was offering UH students a chance to make $350 a week working for the campaign and attempted to recruit students for the part-time job through University Career Services.

“Interested candidates are to go about their normal routine with a sticker of an Advert of Donald Trump for President 2016 on their car,” the job posting said as the condition to receive the weekly allowance.

UCS suspended the post last Friday after the Cougar questioned its legitimacy and UCS was unable to contact the account owner.

“I’ve been trying to contact the account owner for some time to make sure it’s a valid job posting, but was unable to,” said Theresa Cyr, assistant director for employer development and relations at UCS. “I am going to keep trying, though.”

Cyr said that when a company sets up an account, UCS looks at its website, Google results and its profile on glassdoor.com.

“We also look at the job posting itself,” Cyr said. “I think since this is something so unique, I guess that’s why we went ahead with this one.”

A quick search of other presidential candidates brought up empty results, as did news searches on Trump offering similar jobs to students.

“I wouldn’t do it, personally,”  communications sophomore Tyme Powell said. “I don’t think people’s views should be bought, but college students do anything for money. I think they’re also probably playing on that a little bit.” 

Anthropology junior Shawn Jafri said he would do it for the money, even though, just like Powell, he said he was anti-Trump.

“I don’t think it’s going to get anyone to vote to put a bumper sticker on your car,” Jafri said. “I feel like it’s more of a statement.”

Powell said the offer surprised her, and she imagines Trump has little appeal to millennial voters.

Eighty percent of people between 18 and 34 view Trump negatively. So do his fellow Republicans, who throughout the campaign have been at odds with him, according to the Washington Post.

“He might be the Republican candidate, but he’s definitely not going to make it all the way,” Jafri said. “He’s fracturing the party. I think it’s a great thing.”

Trump’s campaign could not be reached for comment on the job posting.

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3 Comments

  • You can bet the same posting with Bernie or Hilliary instead of Trump… it wouldn’t have been a big deal.

    And whether the Ad was real or not … Free Speech was blocked by the SocDem’s at the DC and UCS.

    • Thank you for trying to conflate tacky commercialism with free speech. By your logic, laundry soap ads on TV should be viewed as free speech. Good grief. The trouble with the job posting was, apparently there was no verifiable employer attached to it, and thus no way for a recruit to collect his pay, The school was right to investigate and remove what was obviously a cheap attempt to recruit naive students to advertise for a desperate presidential candidate. Or else it was a goofy prank by a desperate Trump supporter. In either case, in some legal circles that’s known as deceptive advertising, which is not protected by the 1st amendment.

      • I still maintain … if Bernie or Hillary’s name was in the Ad .. it would have stood. Well … maybe not Hillary’s.

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