Following the viral video of three pre-teen girls dancing in star-spangled outfits at a Donald Trump rally in Florida, a creator behind the trio is planning to sue Trump's campaign after saying that they violated multiple verbal agreements and never paid them properly for their contributions.
The Washington Post reports Jeff Popick, father of the smallest Freedom Kid and author of one of their songs, planned to file a lawsuit against Trump's campaign for "violating its agreement with the group." Popick said the agreement wasn't written, but included many promises from Trump campaign staff members, which had been broken.
"This is not a billion-dollar lawsuit," Popick told The Washington Post. "I'm doing this because I think they have to do the right thing. And if this means having to go through the court system to enforce them doing the right thing, then that's what I have to do. I'm not looking to do battle with the Trump campaign, but I have to show my girls that this is the right thing."
Popick said he first reached out to the campaign about performing in Pensacola and he spoke with various people associated with Trump, including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. According to Popick, the plan was to make two appearances in Florida, but the first one didn't happen and he requested $2,500 for the second one.
As a counter-offer, Popick said the Trump campaign told him they would allow him to presell their albums at a table, but once they were at the event, there was no table set up. "They clearly had made no provisions for that," he told The Washington Post.
Popick also detailed another instance where Trump's campaign asked the group to come to a rally for veterans in Des Moines, Iowa, which they agreed to. Popick told The Washington Post that they got a direct flight to Chicago with plans to drive to Iowa, but were told their performance was cancelled once they landed with only an offer of some seats at the rally.
The Washington Post reports Popick showed them emails that he shared with the Trump campaign where he asked for his compensation for the trio's performances. "These are guys that insist they're straight shooters," Popick said, "'You may not like what we're going to say, but we mean what we say and we say what we mean' — and they just would not say anything of any substance!"
He added that he has consulted a lawyer with plans to file the lawsuit in the coming weeks. "We are owed compensation or, as the agreement is, a performance. That's what the agreement was," he told The Washington Post. "In lieu of compensation, in lieu of monetary compensation, that we would have this performance. It was largely a verbal contract, but a contract nonetheless and on two different occasions."
Trump is set to answer questions during a Reddit AMA that will take place during the Democratic National Convention this week with another case against him and his takeover of a Jupiter golf course happening soon.
Read more at The Washington Post.
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