Scott Walker Tries To Shift 2016 T-Shirts To Pay Off $1.2M Campaign Debt

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) could use a hand.

Still saddled with $1.2 million in debt by his unsuccessful campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, the Wisconsin governor sent a fundraising email to supporters over the weekend asking them to help dig him out in exchange for a 2016 t-shirt.

“I cannot stand to see them go to waste,” Walker said in the fundraising email, noting that he was himself a “thrifty” shopper who liked to hit up sales racks for deals. Any supporter who donates $45 to his campaign earns a free shirt.

The downside for potential T-shirt recipients? The items they get might not fit. Walker said in his email that due to a “lack of resources,” the campaign no longer has the sizes or colors available that customers may request.

“When Matt and Alex were little and fighting over what color cup or toy they wanted, Tonette and I used to tell them ‘you get what you get and you don’t get upset’ and I guess that applies here too,” the Wisconsin governor said in the email.

Walker told The Capital Times on Monday that his campaign had “a little fun” with the fundraising effort. He was unsure how many t-shirts remained in stock.

“I don’t have them in my basement, or anything like that,” Walker told the newspaper.

The Wisconsin governor managed to rack up an astonishing deficit during his two-month tenure as a GOP candidate. In January, The Washington Post reported that Walker had managed to pay off an initial $1.4 million of his debt, much of which went towards former staff and unpaid vendors. That left him with the $1.2 million he still owes.

Screenshots of the fundraising email flagged by Capital Times reporter Jesse Opoien are posted below.