$20 for Mr. Trump: One small Ohio donor is doing all he can

Every couple of weeks, Donald Richardson sends a bit of cash to Donald Trump.

Twenty dollars here. Ten dollars there.

On Christmas Eve, the 68-year-old retiree from Wadsworth gave his biggest one-day contribution of all: Forty dollars.

Richardson, a grandfather of two and a Vietnam War veteran, said he has four credit cards, and he's set up recurring payments from each. It's the most he can do.

"Early on I was saying, ‘I’ve gotta get him some money,'" he said. "He may be a billionaire, but he may be cash poor."

So Richardson keeps giving.

His contributions stick out from the relatively short list of early Ohio donors to the Republican presidential candidate. Many donors contributed larger, splashier amounts, some in one-time, big-time checks. Then there's Richardson, whose small but consistent donations to Trump date back to last year. His regular $10-$25 contributions totalled only $536.73 by the end of June.

Now, however, he's not alone. A host of other small-time donors has provided a fresh infusion of campaign cash last month, Trump's campaign announced earlier this week.

The campaign's joint fundraising effort with the Republican National Committee raised approximately $64 million, mostly from small donors, via online and direct mail requests. The torrent of small donations could prove crucial to funding a campaign against well-funded Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, with only a few months to go to election day.

Richardson, a retired machine repair technician, said he's had his eye on Trump since 2008. His campaign this election season hits on all of Richardson's biggest concerns: trade and immigration, specifically the concern that the United States is being overrun by immigrants. Non-Western European immigrants are filling the country, displacing white people and putting the U.S. on the brink, he said. Richardson is white.

“White people are the nicest people on the face of the earth," he said. "We’re about to nice ourselves into oblivion.”

Richard may a small-time donor, but his language matches that of white supremacists who have rallied to Trump's banner and declared him their champion. The candidate himself hemmed and hawed over an endorsement from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke before eventually disavowing it.

But Trump has discussed immigrants in sweeping, dark terms that fit and reinforce Richardson's mindset. As early as June 2015, before he announced he was running for president, Trump characterized Mexican immigrants thusly: "They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

And Trump has kept up a steady drumbeat that falsely paints some immigrants and refugees as existential threats to the United States.

The Enquirer reached out to the Trump campaign in Ohio late Friday for comment on Richardson’s statements. A spokesman didn’t immediately respond

Richardson denies what he says is racist.

"We’re being pushed out by non-whites," he said. "There’s nothing racial about it, but whites will soon be in the minority.”

He said he considers himself an "economic nationalist," borrowing the term from conservative radio host Michael Savage. The U.S. has given many countries trade deals that have been good for them but bad for U.S. industries and their workers, he said.

“There’s no such thing as totally free trade," he said. "Everybody puts their finger on the scale.”

And the Democrats, led by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, are trying to take guns away from white Americans while promising giveaways that further endanger the nation's economy, he said.

“If Hillary gets in, for white people it’s pretty much over, really," he said. "But for the working man, too. Same thing.”

Richardson has thought about this a lot. He said he's grateful to have someone listen. He doesn't support everything Trump says, but sees him as a crucial figure for what he believes is an impending apocalypse.

“My belief is if we survive, it will be a small core of Christians, and we’ll need a leader, someone to lead us if we survive," he said. "That person doesn’t have to be a believer, he just needs to be respectful of our beliefs.”

So does Richardson think Trump is that leader?

“Yes, I do."

And soon, the Wadsworth retiree will make his next donation.

Another $20 for Mr. Trump.