The CEO of an advocacy group revealed that his organization declined an offer reportedly worth around $20 million to help organize a national protest against US President Donald Trump.Adam Swart, the founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand, said in an interview on Tuesday that groups associated with the “July 17th Movement” had approached them for support, as reported by Fox News.“Interests aligned with the organizers of the July 17th movement have approached us and, in fact, we rejected an offer that probably is worth around $20 million,” Swart said.The protests, scheduled for Thursday, are being led by Good Trouble Lives On, a group that describes itself as a peaceful, nonviolent protest organization focusing on social change. The group aims to demonstrate against Trump and what it describes as “the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations” on its official website.The date also marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Representative John Lewis, a prominent civil rights activist, who often referred to peaceful protests as creating “good trouble.”Swart explained that his company which specializes in providing crowds for events and demonstrations declined the offer because they believed the protests would not be impactful.“I mean this is a nationwide thing, right? It’s not to say I would have made 20 million dollars personally, but the value of the contract would have been worth around that amount nationwide to organize huge demonstrations around the country,” he said.“But personally, I just don’t think it’s effective,” Swart added. “I’m not trying to seem virtuous by turning it down, I just believe it would be ineffective and make everyone involved look bad.”Responding to reports about the rejected offer, Harrison Fields, special assistant to President Trump and principal deputy press secretary, issued a statement.“President Trump’s America is so successful that blue-haired basement dwellers are paid to stage fake protests against the administration’s remarkable achievements,” Fields said. “Paid agitators should find real jobs instead of selling out for gift cards and meager paychecks that aim to divide the nation and obstruct America’s greatest comeback. Nothing screams a party in disarray more than one that clearly lacks organic support and is forced to astroturf everything.”Recent incidents involving left-wing protests including violent demonstrations in Los Angeles, where American flags were burned and police officers assaulted, as well as the “No Kings Day” rallies held across the country have come into limelight.
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